Modulation of fetal rat brain and liver phospholipid content by intraamniotic ethyl docosahexaenoate administration

In an attempt to elucidate the role of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n-3) in the developing brain, a method was devised whereby rapid enrichment of fetal brain and liver lipid with DHA was achieved. Fetal rats at 17 days of gestation were injected intraamniotically with ethyl docosahexaenoate (EtDHA). Control fetuses were administered ethyl oleate (EtOle). Brain lipid DHA content increased by almost 21% (p = 0.02) 3 days after EtDHA administration as compared with EtOle-injected fetuses, whereas liver lipid DHA content increased by almost 60% (p = 0.0002). At this time brain phosphatidylinositol content doubled, whereas phosphatidylserine (PS) content increased by > 50% (p = 0.03). Increases in liver PS (+25.8%; p = 0.015) and sphingomyelin (+43.6%; p = 0.01) content were observed. A redistribution of total brain phospholipid (PL) DHA was observed following EtDHA administration, resulting in a 56.4% increase in PS-DHA abundance (p < 0.05) and an 8.8% decrease in phosphatidylethanolamine-DHA abundance (p = 0.05). These results suggest modulation of fetal brain and liver PL and provide a method for enrichment of DHA content in discrete PLs during intrauterine life.