title: Possible essentially of docosahexaenoic acid in Japanese monkey neonates: occurrence in colostrum and low biosynthetic capacity in neonate brains.
abstract: The importance of mother's milk as a source of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in Japanese monkey neonates was investigated. The DHA content in monkey colostrum total lipids was 2.2%, similar to or slightly higher than in humans. A comparison of the biosynthetic capacity of brain microsomes from monkeys of different age (up to 10 years) showed that chain elongation/desaturation of linolenic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid in neonates was significantly less pronounced than in adults. In particular, the formation of DHA, which is the product of delta 4 desaturase, was negligible. These results suggest that milk is an important source of DHA in Japanese monkey neonates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kanazawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyazawa
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hirono
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism; D003126:Colostrum / Q000737:chemistry*; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000032:analysis; D008251:Macaca; D008861:Microsomes / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D008055:Lipids; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids