Murakami R, Tanaka A, Nakamura H
Department of Pediatrics, Awaji Prefectural Hospital, Hyougo-ken, Japan.
J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 1997 Oct;25(4):385-7. doi: 10.1097/00005176-199710000-00004.
We examined carnitine concentrations in fasted neonatal rat brain to evaluate the effect of starvation on fatty acid metabolism.
The free- and acylcarnitine concentrations in neonatal rat brain and heart were determined after a 72-hour starvation period from the 3rd to 6th postnatal day. They were also determined in rats at 3 and 6 days of age fed normally by the mother rats as controls.
In the brain, the mean free carnitine concentration in the fasted group showed an increase similar to that in normal rats and there was no difference between the fasted and 6-day-old control rats. However, the mean acylcarnitine concentration was significantly higher in the fasted group than in the control group at both 3 and 6 days of age. Almost all of the increased acylcarnitine in the fasted group was short-chain acylcarnitine. In the heart, there was no difference in the mean free carnitine concentration between the fasted group and control group at 6 days of age. The 6-day-old rats in both the fasted and control groups showed higher levels compared to 3-day-old rats in the control group. The mean acylcarnitine concentration in the fasted group was not different from that in control group at 6 days of age, while the amount of short-chain acylcarnitine was less than that in the control group at 6 days of age.
These findings suggest that in the brain, carnitine is accumulated as a result of redistribution during starvation, and is utilized for energy supply by fatty acid oxidation.
我们检测了禁食新生大鼠脑内的肉碱浓度，以评估饥饿对脂肪酸代谢的影响。
在出生后第3至6天进行72小时饥饿处理后，测定新生大鼠脑和心脏中的游离肉碱和酰基肉碱浓度。同时也测定了由母鼠正常喂养的3日龄和6日龄大鼠作为对照。
在脑中，禁食组的平均游离肉碱浓度呈现出与正常大鼠相似的增加，禁食组与6日龄对照大鼠之间无差异。然而，在3日龄和6日龄时，禁食组的平均酰基肉碱浓度均显著高于对照组。禁食组中几乎所有增加的酰基肉碱都是短链酰基肉碱。在心脏中，6日龄时禁食组和对照组的平均游离肉碱浓度无差异。禁食组和对照组的6日龄大鼠与对照组的3日龄大鼠相比，水平更高。禁食组6日龄时的平均酰基肉碱浓度与对照组无差异，而6日龄时短链酰基肉碱的量低于对照组。
这些发现表明，在脑中，肉碱在饥饿期间因重新分布而积累，并被用于通过脂肪酸氧化提供能量。
