The fatty acid levels of rat alpha-fetoprotein derived from fetuses, pregnancy and hepatoma sera.

The fatty acid levels of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) isolated from term rat fetuses is about half that of similar human preparations. Arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acids constitute about 33% of the total fatty acids in the rat AFP isolates. The AFP isolated from rat maternal and hepatoma sera have relatively low levels of these fatty acids. A comparison of the fatty acid contents of selected tissues from pregnant and non-pregnant rats does not show differences which might reflect the variable fatty acid levels of the fetal and maternal source AFP preparations.