Acid sphingomyelinase (A-SMase) is a glycoprotein that functions as a lysosomal hydrolase, catalysing the degradation of sphyngomyelin to phosphorylcholine and ceramide. Several lines of evidence suggest its central role in all three types of apoptosis. The activation of neuronal A-SMase has been shown to be important in the stress-induced apoptotic death of hippocampal neurons. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between the activity of A-SMase, hippocampal volume and memories function in healthy young volunteers.

The activity of A-SMase was measured in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 19 healthy female students of the University of Erlangen- Nuernberg (26,32 ± 3,95 years old, Body mass: 22,29 ± 2,63 kgr/m2). The hippocampal formation was outlined in high-resolution anatomical magnetic resonance imaging data. The memory function was assessed with the Inventory for Memory diagnostics (Inventar zur Gedaechtnisdiagnostik). Correlations between continuous variables were examined, using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient.

The activity of A-SMase did not correlate with hippocampal volume and memory performance.

These findings indicate that the activity of the A-SMase influences neither the brain hippocampal volume of young healthy females, nor their memory performance.