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Whole body synthesis rates of DHA from ?-linolenic acid are greater than brain DHA accretion and uptake rates in adult rats.

ABSTRACT: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is important for brain function, however, the exact amount required for the brain is not agreed upon. While it is believed that the synthesis rate of DHA from ?-linolenic acid (ALA) is low, how this synthesis rate compares with the amount of DHA required to maintain brain DHA levels is unknown. The objective of this work was to assess whether DHA synthesis from ALA is sufficient for the brain. To test this, rats consumed a diet low in n-3 PUFAs, or a diet containing ALA or DHA for 15 weeks. Over the 15 weeks, whole body and brain DHA accretion was measured, while at the end of the study, whole body DHA synthesis rates, brain gene expression, and DHA uptake rates were measured. Despite large differences in body DHA accretion, there was no difference in brain DHA accretion between rats fed ALA and DHA. In rats fed ALA, DHA synthesis and accretion was 100-fold higher than brain DHA accretion of rats fed DHA. Also, ALA-fed rats synthesized approximately 3-fold more DHA than the DHA uptake rate into the brain. This work indicates that DHA synthesis from ALA may be sufficient to supply the brain.

SUBMITTER: Domenichiello AF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3927474 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Whole body synthesis rates of DHA from α-linolenic acid are greater than brain DHA accretion and uptake rates in adult rats.

Domenichiello Anthony F AF Chen Chuck T CT Trepanier Marc-Olivier MO Stavro P Mark PM Bazinet Richard P RP

Journal of lipid research 20131109 1

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is important for brain function, however, the exact amount required for the brain is not agreed upon. While it is believed that the synthesis rate of DHA from α-linolenic acid (ALA) is low, how this synthesis rate compares with the amount of DHA required to maintain brain DHA levels is unknown. The objective of this work was to assess whether DHA synthesis from ALA is sufficient for the brain. To test this, rats consumed a diet low in n-3 PUFAs, or a diet containing AL ...[more]

PMID: 24212299

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Project description:We investigated ecotoxicological effects and toxicogenomic responses in fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) exposed to an environmentally-relevant concentration (0.83 mg/L) of the munitions compound cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX) in one year and multi-generational assays. In the one year assay, RDX effects were discerned by comparing breeding groups reared in control or RDX-exposure conditions for one year. RDX had no detectable effect on gonad-somatic index, or condition factor in females assayed at 1 day and at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months, however the liver-somatic index was significantly increased versus controls only at the 12 month time point. RDX had no effect on live-prey capture rates at all time points assayed and no significant impacts on egg production, fertilization or hatch success in the 1-year exposure trial. Genomic analyses indicated that RDX exposure caused limited differential expression of transcripts within time points and no functional conservation of effects indicative of RDX exposure among time points for either brain or liver tissues in the one year exposure. In the multi-generational assay, the effects of acute (96h) exposure to RDX were compared in fish reared to the F2 generation in either control or RDX-exposure conditions. The RDX-reared fish were not observed to have appreciably enhanced RDX tolerance versus the control-reared fish. However, significant differences in gene expression were observed among the control and RDX-reared fish related to neuro-excitatory glutamate metabolism, sensory signaling and processes in neurological development. In total, our results indicate that exposure to an RDX concentration approximating maximum levels observed in the field (0.83 mg/L) caused limited impacts in fathead minnows in a one year exposure, however caused altered expression in genes involved in neural function in a multi-generational exposure. P. promelas larvae produced in the original one year exposure were collected and grown out to sexual maturity while being maintained in the same treatment (control or 0.83 mg/L RDX) as their respective F0 parental generation. Once the fish reached sexual maturity, they were placed into eight experimental units for both control and RDX treatment consisting of four females and two males and were maintained with the same experimental conditions as the F0 generation. To determine if the chronic, multi-generational exposure to RDX resulted in any change in sensitivity to RDX, 90 dph progeny (F2 or sub-adults) of the control and RDX-exposed F1 generation were subjected to a challenge experiment where the fish were exposed to RDX at 5 mg/L.

Dataset Information

Whole body synthesis rates of DHA from ?-linolenic acid are greater than brain DHA accretion and uptake rates in adult rats.

Publications

Whole body synthesis rates of DHA from α-linolenic acid are greater than brain DHA accretion and uptake rates in adult rats.

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