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Chick Nutritional Encephalomalacia and Prostanoid Formation

Institute of Zoology, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, England

Nutritional encephalomalacia (NE) was induced in young chicks using a diet low in vitamin E and containing 8% ethyl esters derived from safflower oil fatty acids (S-E group). The same diet with added -tocopheryl acetate (S+E) failed to produce the pathology, and chicks receiving aerated linseed oil—high in -linolenic acid and low in -tocopherol (L-E)—did not develop symptoms. Formation of metabolites from labeled arachidonic acid (AA) by thrombocytes was similar in the S+E and S-E groups, yielding thromboxane B₂ (TXB₂) and hydroxy fatty acids as the major products. Collagen-induced thrombocyte aggregation and TXB₂ production were not significantly different in the S-E and S+E groups, but aggregation values and TXB₂ synthesis were significantly less in the L-E group than in the ataxic S-E chicks. Prostaglandin E₂ production by aortal rings was significantly influenced by the diet; S-E yielded the highest value and L-E the lowest. These results show that -linolenic acid causes alterations in the AA metabolism and thrombocyte function in young chicks.

KEY WORDS: • vitamin E • polyunsaturated fatty acids • thrombocytes • aorta • chicks

¹ To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Laboratoire de Chimie Biologique, INSERM U. 205, INSA, Bât 406, 69621 Villeurbanne Cedex, France.

² Present address: Faculty of Agriculture, Hebrew University, Rehovot 76100, Israel.

³ Present address: The Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition, Hackney Hospital, London, England.

Manuscript received 8 February 1990. Revision accepted 13 December 1990.