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Cerebral Lipids and Amino Acids in the Vitamin B₆-deficient Suckling Rat¹

Eunice K. Shriver Center for Mental Retardation, Walter E. Fernald State School, Waverley, Massachusetts 02178 and Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114

Neonatal vitamin B₆ deficiency was established in the rat. Coenzyme levels in brain of suckling rats from dams fed a B₆-deficient diet after parturition were determined by the (1-¹⁴C)tyrosine-tyrosine apodecarboxylase method and found to be approximately one-third normal in deficient animals 18 days old. Cerebral sphingolipids were reduced 30 to 50% in animals 18 to 20 days old. Minor alterations were observed in glycerophosphatides and plasmalogens. Cystathionine accumulated to 16 times normal levels. Glycine, citrulline, taurine and the branched-chain amino acid levels were also elevated while gamma aminobutyric acid and serine were reduced. The role of vitamin B₆ in sphingolipid metabolism has been the subject of much interest. The amino acid changes are largely explicable by reduced activity of known B₆-requiring apoenzymes.

KEY WORDS: • vitamin B₆ • sphingolipids • amino acids

¹ Supported by Grant no. 724-A-2 from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Grants no. NS-08994 and HD-05515 from the National Institutes of Health, and U. S. Public Health Service Training Grant no. 906.

Manuscript received 23 June 1971.