Utilization of High-Density Lipoprotein Sphingomyelin by the Developing and Mature Brain in the Rat

Utilization of very long chain saturated fatty acids by brain was studied by injecting 20-day-old and adult rats with high-density lipoprotein containing stearic or lignoceric acid-14C, (methyl-3H)choline]sphingomyelin. Labeling was followed for 24 h. Very small amounts of 14C were recovered in the brain of all rats, and there was no preferential uptake of lignoceric acid. Approximately 20% of the entrapped 14C was located in the form of unchanged sphingomyelin 24 h after injection. This result shows that the rat brain utilizes very little very long chain fatty acids (greater than or equal to 20 C atoms) from high-density lipoprotein sphingomyelin, even during the myelinating period. The 3H]choline moiety from sphingomyelin was recovered in brain phosphatidylcholine in a higher proportion in comparison with the 14C uptake. The brain 3H increased throughout the studied period in all experiments, but was much higher in the myelinating brain than in the mature brain. From the radioactivity distribution in liver and plasma lipids, it is clear that the choline 3H in the brain originates from either double-labeled phosphatidylcholine of lipoproteins or tritiated lysophosphatidylcholine bound to albumin, both synthesized by the liver.