The fatty acid pattern of central myelin lipids after transplacental intoxication by ethylnitrosourea.

Porton mice were used in the experiments. Pregnant animals were injected intravenously with a single dose of ethylnitrosourea (ENU). The poison was administered at the 15th day of pregnancy. The cerebral myelin of offsprings of the intoxicated mothers was examined with respect to the fatty acid spectrum of myelin lipids. The results obtained lead to the following conclusions: The fatty acid pattern of the individual myelin lipid fractions has revealed significant differences between the normal myelin and that isolated from brains of mice that had been subjected to transplacental intoxication by ENU. Transplacental intoxication by ENU has not only a carcinogenic effect on the central nervous system, but it obviously also affects the lipid metabolism of membraneous structures of the developing brain. ENU when acting during foetal life induces the formation of deviated myelin, that differs significantly with respect to its lipid and fatty acid composition from that of normally developing animals.