Comparison of the Development of the Fatty Acid Content and Composition of the Brain of a Precocial Species (Guinea Pig) and a Non‐Precocial Species (Rat)

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Abstract
Fatty acid compositions of the brains of a precocial (guinea pig) and a non-precocial (rat) species were studied as a function of development. In the rat brain the total fatty acid content expressed as mg .cntdot. g wet wt-1 increased more than 4-fold during the period from 5 days after birth to adulthood. Percentage composition of this total fatty acid content when expressed per individual fatty acid remained fairly constant, with the exception of nervonic acid (C24:1) which increased 4-fold on a percentage basis. In the guinea pig brain, at birth the total fatty acid content, expressed as mg .cntdot. g wet wt-1, is the same as that of the adult, the concentration doubling during the period from 25 days before birth until birth. If the fatty acid content is analyzed and expressed on a percentage basis, the relative concentrations of the individual fatty acids remain fairly constant over the period from 25 days before birth until adulthood with the exception of nervonic (C24:1) acid which increases about 5-fold from 25 days before birth to birth and only marginally (20%) from birth to adulthood. Results are discussed in relationship to the onset of neurological competence in the 2 species. It is concluded that the increase in fatty acid content (total and individually) of the brains of these species as a function of fetal and neonatal development follows a pattern which is similar to the pattern of development of certain key enzymes of energy metabolism and of neurological competence.