Ubiquitous. Expression is reduced with increasing age and in late-onset Alzheimer disease (LOAD) patients. This reduction is even more pronounced in patients with an affected mother. ASAH2B/ASAH2L is a partial paralog of ASAH2, resulting from a partial duplication of ASAH2 on chromosome 10. It has a polymorphic start codon with a single nucleotide change of the original ASAH2 sequence plus other putative translation start site that might lead to several potential ORFs. Belongs to the neutral ceramidase family. In contrast to other members of the family, ASAH2B has no predicted transmembrane domain, and lacks the active site, suggesting that it may be catalytically inactive.