THE SHORT-TERM EFFECT OF DIETARY FATS ON THE BRAIN FATTY-ACID COMPOSITION IN RATS

The effects of dietary fats on brain fatty acid composition were studi ed in weanling rats. Three groups of fats were fed for six days a basa l diet supplemented with a 10% (w/w) of fat as coconut, olive or sunfl ower oil. There were no differences in the saturated and monounsaturat ed fatty acid content among the different ent groups. The more polyuns aturated fatty acids were arachidonic (20:4 n-6) and docosahexaenoic ( 22:6 n-3) acids. No effect of the diet on their amount in brain membra nes has been found. We can conclude that the brain does not modify its fatty acid composition after a short-time administration of these lip ids.