Lipid Class and Fatty Acid Composition of Rat Brain and Sciatic Nerve in Alloxan Diabetes

Abstract

Quantitative analysis of major lipid classes and the fatty acids carried out on lipid extracts of brain from young and adult alloxan diabetic rats revealed decreases in total lipid, cholesterol, the more polar cerebroside, and phospha-tidylethanolamine in brain from young diabetic rats. No significant changes in lipid class composition were found in brains from adult rats with alloxan diabetes. No significant changes in fatty acids were detected in the total brain lipids of young or adult rats as a result of alloxan diabetes. In contrast, similar studies on the lipids of sciatic nerve revealed an increase in cholesterol balanced by a decrease of triglycerides in young rats and a decrease of total lipid and the more polar cerebroside only in adult rats with alloxan diabetes. Compared to normal rats, total lipids from sciatic nerves of young alloxan diabetic rats showed relative decreases in palmitate (16:0), oleate (18:1), and linoleate (18:2) with increases in stearate (18:0), eicosanoate (20:0), eicosenoate (20:1), arachidonate (20:4), docosanoate (22:0), docosapentaenoate (22:5), docosahexaenoate (22:6), lignocerate (24:0). In lipid extracts from sciatic nerves of adult diabetic rats, only oleate (18:1) was increased and linoleate (18:2) decreased compared to normal.