title: Natural and accelerated docosahexaenoic acid accumulation in the prenatal rat brain.
abstract: The quantity and distribution of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in major brain phospholipids (PL) was examined in the fetal rat brain before birth, using thin-layer and capillary column gas chromatography. A rapid increment of DHA content of about 187 micrograms/g brain/day was observed between 17 to 20 days gestation, as opposed to 39.3 +/- 2.9 micrograms/g brain/day prior to that. Single intraamniotic injections of 5 microL ethyl-docosahexaenoate (Et-DHA) (12 microM, 4.25 mg) administered to 17-day-old fetuses were used to examine the uptake of DHA into brain PL. Three days following injection, the amount of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids increased by 28% compared to ethyl-oleate (Et-Ole) injected fetuses. Compared to the n-6 fatty acid family, the relative amount of DHA increased in the phosphatidylserine (PS), phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine (PC) lipids by 15 (P = 0.02), 13 and 14%, respectively. A major increase in the pool size of phosphatidylinositol and PS (110 and 50.3%, respectively), and a decrease in PC (8.2%) were observed 3 d after Et-DHA as compared to Et-Ole administration. The data suggest that a single intraamniotic administration of Et-DHA can modulate membrane PL content and alter PUFA composition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yavin
mesh_terms: D000650:Amnion; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development / Q000502:physiology; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D007267:Injections; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids