Abstract
Information on the prenatal accumulation of rat brain membrane lipids is scarce. In this study we investigated in detail the fatty acid (FA) composition of the rat brain, on each day from embryonic day 12 (E12) up to birth, and on 8 time points during the first 16 days of postnatal life, and correlated the FA changes with well-described events of neurogenesis and synaptogenesis. Between E14 and E17, there was a steep increase in the concentration of all the FAs: 16:0 increased by 136%, 18:0 by 139%, 18:1 by 92%, 20:4n–6 by 98%, 22:4n–6 by 116%, 22:5n–6 by 220%, and 22:6n–3 by 98%. After this period and up to birth, the concentration of the FAs plateaued, except that of 22:6n–3, which accumulated further, reaching an additional increase of 75%. After birth, except 22:5n–6, all FAs steadily increased at various rates. Estimation of the FA/PL molar ratios showed that prenatally the ratios of all the FAs either decreased or remained constant, but that of 22:6n–3 increased more than 2-fold; postnatally the ratios remained constant, with the exception of 22:4n–6 and 22:5n–6, which decreased. In conclusion, prenatal accumulation of brain fatty acids parallels important events in neurogenesis. 22:6n–3 is exceptional inasmuch in its steep accumulation occurs just prior to synaptogenesis.—Green, P., S. Glozman, B. Kamensky, and E. Yavin. Developmental chantes in rat brain membrane lipids and fatty acids: the preferential prenatal accumulation of docosahexaenoic acid. J. Lipid Res. 1999. 40: 960–966.
Highlights
Information on the prenatal accumulation of rat brain membrane lipids is scarce
We postulated that as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is important for brain development, its prenatal accumulation pattern should reflect this fact; and if it subserves important functions, most of which are unknown, correlation of its prenatal accumulation with discrete events in neurogenesis and synaptogenesis might shed light on some of its biological functions
In a recent study we have examined the fatty acid (FA) content of the fetal rat brain at two time points during its development in late pregnancy [15] and concluded that the accretion rate of DHA at this developmental stage is the most rapid compared to other FAs
Summary
Information on the prenatal accumulation of rat brain membrane lipids is scarce. In this study we investigated in detail the fatty acid (FA) composition of the rat brain, on each day from embryonic day 12 (E12) up to birth, and on 8 time points during the first 16 days of postnatal life, and correlated the FA changes with welldescribed events of neurogenesis and synaptogenesis. Accumulation of brain fatty acids (FAs) has scarcely been studied in the prenatal rat, despite the dramatic changes occurring virtually from day to day in this period in terms of neurogenesis [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9].
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