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Measurement(s) parasitemia • blood Chemistry • reticulocyte count • platelet activation status • neutrophil and monocyte activation after stimulation • T-cell phenotyping • B-cell phenotyping • monocyte phenotyping • dendritic cell phenotyping • lymphocyte phenotyping • multiplexed cytokine assay • erythropoietin measurement • total IgG concentration • transcriptome • metabolomics • lipidomics • proteomics Technology Type(s) brightfield microscopy • iSTAT machine • immunological flow cytometry • chemokine receptor markers • intracellular staining • ELISA • LC/MS Factor Type(s) Parasitemia Sample Characteristic - Organism Macaca mulatta • Plasmodium cynomolgi B/M strain • Plasmodium cynomolgi Ceylon Sample Characteristic - Environment venous blood • capillary blood

“Sphingosin” was first described by J. L. W. Thudichum in 1884 and structurally characterized as 2S,3R,4E-2-aminooctadec-4-ene-1,3-diol in 1947 by Herb Carter, who also proposed the designation of “lipides derived from sphingosine as sphingolipides.” This category of amino alcohols is now known to encompass hundreds of compounds that are referred to as sphingoid bases and sphingoid base-like compounds, which vary in chain length, number, position, and stereochemistry of double bonds, hydroxyl groups, and other functionalities. Some have especially intriguing features, such as the tail-to-tail combination of two sphingoid bases in the α,ω-sphingoids produced by sponges. Most of these compounds participate in cell structure and regulation, and some (such as the fumonisins) disrupt normal sphingolipid metabolism and cause plant and animal disease. Many of the naturally occurring and synthetic sphingoid bases are cytotoxic for cancer cells and pathogenic microorganisms or have other potentially useful bioactivities; hence, they offer promise as pharmaceutical leads. This thematic review gives an overview of the biodiversity of the backbones of sphingolipids and the broader field of naturally occurring and synthetic sphingoid base-like compounds.