Utilization of Plasma Fatty Acid in Rat Brain: Distribution of [14C]Palmitate Between Oxidative and Synthetic Pathways

Abstract

Radioactivity within individual brain compartments was determined from 5 min to 44 h after intravenous injection of [¹⁴C]palmitate into awake Fischer-344 rats, aged 21 days or 3 months. Total radioactivity peaked broadly between 15 min and 1 h after injection, declined rapidly between 1 and 2h, and then more slowly. In 3-month-old rats, the lipid and protein brain fractions were maximally labeled within 15 min after [¹⁴C]palmitate injection, then retained approximately constant label for up to 2 days. Radioactivity in the aqueous brain fraction comprised mainly radioactive glutamate and glutamine, and peaked at 45 min, when it comprised 48% of total brain radioactivity, then decreased to 27% of the total at 4h, 15% at 20h, and 10% at 44 h. Percent distribution of radioactivity within the different brain compartments, 4 h after intravenous injection of [¹⁴C]palmitate, was similar in 21-day-old and 3-month-old rats, despite higher net brain uptake in the younger animals. The results indicate that about 50% of plasma [¹⁴C]palmitate that enters the brain of adult rats is incorporated rapidly into stable protein and lipid compartments. The remaining [¹⁴C]palmitate enters the aqueous fraction after β-oxidation, and is slowly lost. At 4 h after injection, 73% of brain radioactivity is within the stable brain compartments; this fraction increases to 86% by 20 h.