title: The pattern of fatty acid synthesis in lactating rabbit mammary gland studied in vivo.
abstract: The biosynthesis of fatty acids has been studied in lactating rabbits at 6h after intravenous injection of sodium [1-(14)C]acetate. The specific radioactivities of the individual fatty acids (C(6:0) to C(14:0)) and the proportions of these fatty acids synthesized were similar in mammary tissue and milk. Hexanoic acid had the highest specific radioactivity, and the C(8:0)-C(14:0) fatty acids had similar specific radioactivities, which were about five times those of C(16) and C(18) acids. No radioactivity was detected in fatty acids of chain length <C(14) in the liver, blood or adipose tissue and the specific radioactivities of fatty acids of chain length >C(14) in these tissues were similar to those of the long-chain fatty acids in the milk and mammary gland. The results show that the C(4:0)-C(14:0) fatty acids are synthesized within the mammary gland rather than by fatty acid uptake from circulating blood or by oxidation of long-chain fatty acids within the gland. We conclude that de novo synthesis of esterified fatty acids in vivo by this tissue has a high degree of chain-length specificity.
mesh_terms: D000085:Acetates / Q000378:metabolism; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D002208:Caproates; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D007774:Lactation; D008099:Liver / Q000032:analysis; D008321:Mammary Glands, Animal / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011817:Rabbits
chemical_list: D000085:Acetates; D002208:Caproates; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D005227:Fatty Acids