The concentration of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA) in the fetal brain increases dramatically from the third trimester until 18 months of life. Several studies have shown an association between the percentage of maternal plasma docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) during gestation and development of cognitive functions in the neonate. Since only very low levels of LCPUFA are synthesized i...

Background: It was hypothesized that under apparently good management practices in dairy farms, some cows may not be metabolically perfect during the breeding period and this may affect their performance. Aims: This study was conducted to assess probable metabolic drawbacks in mid-lactation dairy cows affecting their performance. Methods: Thirt...

The physiological, endocrine and biochemical alterations which occur in the lactating rat to allow direction of the nutrients (glucose, amino acids, non-esterified fatty acids, triacylglycerols) to the lactating gland are described. In addition, the short-term changes in the rate of synthesis of milk constituents and the mechanisms whereby they occur are discussed.

BACKGROUND Ligands of peroxisome-proliferator activated receptors (PPARs), such as non-esterified fatty acids (NEFAs), induce expression of angiopoietin-like protein 4 (ANGPTL4). Recently ANGPTL4 has been reported to be a mediator of intracellular adipose lipolysis induced by glucocorticoids. OBJECTIVE To determine the concentrations of ANGPTL4 in cord serum of neonates born by spontaneous va...

The biosynthesis of fatty acids has been studied in lactating rabbits at 6h after intravenous injection of sodium [1-(14)C]acetate. The specific radioactivities of the individual fatty acids (C(6:0) to C(14:0)) and the proportions of these fatty acids synthesized were similar in mammary tissue and milk. Hexanoic acid had the highest specific radioactivity, and the C(8:0)-C(14:0) fatty acids had...

We compared UCP3 protein in rat cardiac, glycolytic and oxidative skeletal muscle and examined the effect of high-fat medium chain vs. long chain triacylglycerol feeding on UCP3 content in these tissues. Cardiac muscle displays the lowest basal levels of UCP3 protein. Increasing long chain - but not medium chain - fatty acid supply upregulates UCP3 in all muscles. Since plasma non-esterified fa...

Straightor normal-chain, saturated components (even-numbered) make up 10-40% of the total fatty acids in most natural lipids. The most abundant saturated fatty acids in animal and plant tissues are straight-chain compounds with 14, 16 and 18 carbon atoms, but all the possible oddand even-numbered homologues with 2 to 36 carbon atoms have been found in nature in esterified form. They are named s...