This product is the L-erythro stereoisomer of natural D-erythro-hexanoyl ceramide. L-erythro ceramides are inactive in some ceramide functions, have different activities in other functions, and exhibit the same activity in yet other functions. Lerythro- N-acetyl ceramide has been shown to induce accumulation of greater levels of sphingosine than in control cells.1 Generation of endogenous long-chain ceramide can be induced by exogenous short chain D-erythro-hexanoyl-ceramide but not by non-natural L-erythro-hexanoyl-ceramide.2 Other examples of functions demonstrated by D-erythro, but not Lerythro, ceramides are several key downstream biological activities such as growth inhibition, cell cycle arrest, and modulation of telomerase activity.2 Some viruses require the presence of ceramide in a membrane to be able to fuse to that membrane and it has been demonstrated that only D-erythro ceramide, and not L-erythro or D- or L-threo ceramides, supports the viral fusion.3
