The effect of essential fatty acid deprivation on the metabolic transformations of [1(-14)C]linolenate in developing rat brain.

Linolenic acid undergoes rapid metabolism in the brain of 21-day-old rats. Radioactivity is rapidly transferred from linolenic acid to the C20 (n--3) fatty acids while that in docosapentaenoic acid (22 : 5 n--3) and docosahexaenoic acid (22 : 6 n--3) gradually increases. A greater proportion of the radioactivity is associated with the polyunsaturated and less with saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids in essential fatty acid-deprived rats relative to controls.