[Development of brain lipids in rats receiving a fat-free diet with respect to myelinization]

Wistar rats were fed during the whole time of gestation with a fat-free diet. The diet regime was continued for the pups and mothers after term up to day 56 post partum. Phospholipids, cholesterol, and cerebrosides were estimated in the fetal brain at the 22nd day of gestation and in the brains of the new born animals at the 14th and 56th day post partum. The molar ratios typical for mature of myeline were followed up. Fat-free diet caused a reduction of brain weight by 50 per cent in fetuses at day 22 of gestation if compared with control animals. At day 14 and 56 post partum, however, this differences has been adjusted. Within the main phase of myelinization (14th-56th day) the brains of the diet animals showed an increased accumulation of phospholipids, a lower rise in cholesterol, and a strongly depressed accumulation of cerebrosides if compared with the control group. The results support the view that the fat-free diet may lead to a persistence of early states in mature of the myeline with an enrichment in membrane structures corresponding to early myeline.