Ceramides acutely accumulate in proximal tubules during injury. Pathogenic relevance of
this change is suggested by observations that adding ceramide to tubular cells alters
superimposed hypoxic and toxic attack. Ceramide accumulation during cell injury is thought
to arise from sphingomyelinase (SMase)-mediated sphingomyelin (SM)
hydrolysis±decreased catabolism. Thus, ceramide addition to cells cannot precisely
simulate pathophysiologic events. Therefore, this study assessed direct effects of SMase …