myo-Inositol Metabolism in the Neonatal and Developing Rat Fed a myo-Inositol-free Diet

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Abstract
Neonatal rats of the Holtzman strain, 6 days of age, were fed a myo-inositol restricted liquid formula by gastric intubation for 10 days, after which they were fed a purified myo-inositol-free diet until they were 72 days old. No differences in weight gain were observed between myo-inositol deprived rats and those fed the same diet supplemented with 114 mg myo-inositol/100 ml of formula or 250 mg myo-inositol/100 g diet. Most tissues examined from rats fed the myo-inositol deprived formula and diet had lower free myo-inositol levels than the controls with the exception of the cerebrum and cerebellum. Among those tissues having reduced free myo-inositol levels, the lipid-bound myo-inositol was normal with the exception of the liver. Despite reduced free and lipid-bound myo-inositol in the liver, there was no evidence of fatty liver in the young rats at any age. The cerebrum and cerebellum of myo-inositol deprived rats had normal myelination and mitochondriogenesis as judged by the levels of 2′,3′-cyclic nucleotide-3′-phosphohydrolase (EC 3.1.4.1) and fumarase (EC 4.2.1.2) activity, respectively.