[Histonet] detecting sphingomyelin

[Mary Lloyd]

Hello everyone,

My name is Molly Rosebush and I am a resident in oral pathology at OSU 
working in Mary's lab.  We recently received a biopsy from a patient with 
Niemann-Pick disease.  The hallmark of this disorder is accumulation of 
sphingomyelin in "foam-like" cells within tissues.
My question is this:
Is there a histochemical or immunohistochemical method/technique for 
staining sphingomyelin in formalin-fixed tissue?  We don't really see any 
"foam" cells in the specimen, but would like to be able to somehow detect 
sphingomyelin (if present) in the tissue.

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide!
--Molly