title: n-3 Deficient and docosahexaenoic acid-enriched diets during critical periods of the developing prenatal rat brain.
abstract: The last period of the intrauterine life in the rat (embryonic day 17 to 21, ED17-ED21) is demarcated by an increase in brain and body weight and active neuronogenesis. During this period, a rapid accumulation of DHA (22:6 n-3), unparalleled to other fatty acids, takes place. The details of DHA rapid acquisition in the fetal brain were investigated after imposing a diet deficient in n-3 fatty acids (FA) as of ED1 and subsequently examining the distribution of DHA in major brain phospholipid (PL) classes on ED20, having added on ED15 a triglyceride (TG) mixture enriched up to 43% with DHA. The n-3 deficiency maintained for 19 days resulted at ED20 in more than 30% reduction of DHA in PL, which was counterbalanced by an increase of docosapentaenoic acid (DPA, 22:5 n-6). No effect on body weight, nor major changes in PL composition or other FA in fetal brain PL were observed. Feeding dams a DHA-TG diet on ED15 induced an immediate increase of DHA in maternal liver PL, followed by a subsequent increase of DHA in fetal liver PL, as well as in fetal brain PL. Thus the content of fetal brain DHA in n-3 deficient embryos could be restored within 48 hours. Dietary manipulation of fetal tissues is a rapid phenomenon and can be used to enrich DHA at critical periods of development in utero.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schiefermeier
authors.forename: Ephraim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yavin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D004032:Diet; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated / Q000378:metabolism*; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development / Q000187:drug effects; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D005865:Gestational Age; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D010743:Phospholipids; D014280:Triglycerides; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids; C026219:docosapentaenoic acid