Effects of maternal essential fatty‐acid deficiency on neonatal rat brain

Abstract

AbstractFemale weanling rats were raised to sexual maturity on either a normal stock diet or an essential fatty‐acid (EFA) deficient diet, and then bred. Brain weight and lipid composition of the offspring from these animals were measured as part of an investigation into factors contributing to the early death of EFA‐deficient progeny. Lactation failure does not seem to be an adequate explanation of the early deaths since the dead EFA‐deficient offspring frequently have milk in their stomachs. Maternal behavior including nesting was lacking, however, in EFA‐deficient dams. The EFA‐deficient brains weighed less than normal neonatal brains, and frequently had subdural hemorrhaging. Relative to body weight, however, some “sparing” of the brain was apparent. Total brain sterol concentration was not measurably different, but fatty‐acid composition of total brain lipid and phospholipid was. The EFA‐deficient offspring had relatively less arachidonate and other EFA‐related fatty acids, while the proportion of trienoic acids, principally 20:3 and 22:3 was increased considerably. In phosphatidyl ethanolamine, the proportion of 16:0 was particularly elevated in the EFA‐deficient brains. The results are discussed in relation to the integrity of myelin and the synthesis of prostaglandins, as possible factors in the premature death of EFA‐deficient progeny.