This short communication addresses the emerging topic of the association between ceramides, inflammation and insulin resistance. This study reported a strong correlation between total plasma ceramide and serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) concentrations (r=0.59, p<0.0001) in a cross-sectional study of 33 patients with cardiovascular disease. Multivariate analysis revealed that circulating levels of ceramides and tumor-necrosis factor-a; (TNF-a) independently explained 41% of the variation of IL-6 concentrations. The present results suggest that the link between ceramides, insulin resistance and inflammation could be related to the inflammatory marker IL-6 and that the proposed negative effect of IL-6 on insulin resistance could be mediated by ceramides.
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