Exogenous [1-(14)C]lignoceric acid uptake by neurons, astrocytes and myelin, as compared to incorporation of [1-(14)C]palmitic and stearic acids.
In order to compare the incorporation of several saturated fatty acids into the brain, radioactive palmitic, stearic and lignoceric acids were injected into mice. The radioactivity was measured in lipids from isolated neurons, astrocytes and myelin. Our data indicate that specific radioactivity of lignoceric acid after its injection was very high in neurons and astrocytes when comparing with serum lignoceric acid specific radioactivity: evidence of the uptake of exogenous lignoceric acid by brain cells and myelin is provided. The incorporation of exogenous palmitic acid into brain cells was much higher than the incorporation of exogenous stearic acid. We hypothesize that exogenous saturated fatty acid uptake is selective in relation with the acyl chain length and the intracerebral synthesis.
Morand
O
O
Laboratoire de Neurochimie, INSERM U.134, CNRS ERA 421, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, 75651 Paris Cedex 13, France.
Masson
M
M
Baumann
N
N
Bourre
J M
JM