Sphingolipids (SLs) are a class of lipids, which are structural cell components involved in the regulation of cellular processes such as cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and inflammation. Dietary SLs are enzymatically hydrolyzed in the gut lumen into metabolites, namely ceramides and sphingoid bases. The sphingoid base 4, 8-sphingadienine (4, 8-SD) is the metabolite of glucocerebrosides derived from plants that are part of the human diet. The present findings provide insight into the effects of 4, 8-SD on inflammatory responses that may be of nutritional and therapeutic benefit. We demonstrated that 4, 8-SD significantly inhibited tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)-and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced expression of IL-8 and E-selectin in human endothelial cells in a dose-dependent manner. The anti-inflammatory effect was observed at significantly lower concentrations of 4, 8-SD compared those affecting cell viability as judged by the LDH and WST-1 assays.