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Essential Fatty Acid Deficiency: Effects of Cross-Fostering Mice at Birth on Brain Growth and Myelination^1,2,

University of Maryland, Nutritional Sciences Program, Department of Chemistry, College Park, MD 20742

The effects on brain development of cross-fostering mice at birth from essential fatty acid (EFA)-deficient to EFA-sufficient diets and vice versa were examined. Four groups of animals were studied: [C], animals reared on an EFA-sufficient diet throughout pre- and postnatal life; [D], animals reared on an EFA-deficient diet throughout pre- and postnatal life; [C D], animals receiving an EFA-sufficient diet prenatally and cross-fostered to an EFA-deficient diet at birth; and [D C], animals receiving an EFA-deficient diet prenatally and cross-fostered to an EFA-sufficient diet at birth. Indices of brain growth (i.e. wet weight, DNA and protein content) and myelination (brain proteolipid and galactolipid content) were measured on animals ranging in age from 0 to 9 weeks in the four experimental groups. Essentially no differences were observed in any of the brain growth or myelination parameters on pups in the [D] or [C D] groups. In almost all cases the developmental curves of the two groups were superimposable. In contrast, the developmental curves of the [D C] animals were not superimposable on the control curves. A pronounced time lag of almost 6 weeks was observed before their body and brain weights attained control levels. However, the brain protein and DNA levels in the [D C] group still did not reach control values by 9 weeks. Studies on the myelination parameters indicated that brain proteolipid accumulation in animals in the [D C] group appeared to be unaffected by prenatal EFA deficiency, but galactolipid content remained below control values throughout the course of the study. These results suggest that mice "rehabilitated" from EFA-deficient to EFA-sufficient diets at birth may possess abnormal myelin for at least 2 months during a period of rapid brain maturation.

KEY WORDS: • essential fatty acid • myelination • brain development • cross-fostering

¹ A preliminary report on this work has been presented at the annual meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, Anaheim, CA, April 1980. Berkow, S. E. & Campagnoni, A. T. (1980) Fed. Proc. 39, 436 (abs.).

² Supported by the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station as Contribution 5913, Scientific Article No. A2861 from the Department of Dairy Science, Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station.

³ To be submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree in Nutritional Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD.

⁴ To whom reprint requests should be sent.

Manuscript received 23 September 1980.