Fretts AM, Jensen PN, Hoofnagle A, et al. - Among participants of 2 studies, the links of 15 circulating ceramides and sphingomyelin (SM) species with incident diabetes were investigated. From the Strong Heart Study and from the Strong Heart Family Study, researchers selected 435 American-Indian participants and 1902 participants, respectively. They used stored plasma samples by sequential LC and MS in order to measure sphingolipid species. The studies included 446 cases of incident diabetes. Per 1 SD of each log ceramide species (μM), the RRs for incident diabetes were estimated to be 1.22 (95% CI: 1.09, 1.37), 1.18 (95% CI: 1.06, 1.31), and 1.20 (95% CI: 1.08, 1.32) for ceramides containing stearic acid (Cer-18), for ceramides containing arachidic acid (Cer-20), and for ceramides containing behenic acid (Cer-22), respectively. No link with diabetes risk was demonstrated by ceramides carrying palmitic acid, SMs, glucosyl-ceramides, or a lactosyl-ceramide. In 2 studies of American-Indian adults, a higher risk of developing diabetes was observed in relation to higher levels of circulating Cer-18, Cer-20, and Cer-22.