Increase in levels of total free fatty acids in rat brain regions following 3-nitropropionic acid administration

• Published in: Neuroscience letters Vol. 230; no. 3; pp. 199 - 201
• Main Authors: Binienda, Zbigniew, Kim, Chung S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier Ireland Ltd 25-07-1997; Elsevier
• Subjects: 3-Nitropropionic acid; Animals; Antihypertensive Agents - pharmacology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Brain - drug effects; Brain - metabolism; Fatty Acids, Nonesterified - metabolism; Food toxicology; Free fatty acids; Male; Medical sciences; Neurotoxins - pharmacology; Nitro Compounds; Oxidative stress; Oxidative Stress - physiology; Propionates - pharmacology; Rat; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Toxicology; Oxidative stress; Brain; Rat; 3-Nitropropionic acid; Free fatty acids; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Animal; Food poisoning; Rodentia; Central nervous system; Neurotoxin; Lipids; Free fatty acid; Brain (vertebrata)
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/S0304-3940(97)00514-4

Acute exposure to a neurotoxin, 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NPA), in rats results in an increase in total free fatty acid (FFA) concentration in selective brain regions. We investigated the effect of 3-NPA administration on the cerebral concentrations of FFA used as a marker of oxidative stress. Rats (
n=3/group) were dosed subcutaneously (s.c.) either with a vehicle (phosphate buffer) or 3-NPA in phosphate buffer at 30 mg/kg body weight. Animals were sacrificed after 1, 2, 3, and 6 h of injection. Brains were then dissected into frontal cortex (FC), caudate nucleus (CN), and hippocampus (HIP). The concentration of total FFA increased from 130 to 300% within 1–2 h after 3-NPA injection in all brain regions when compared with the baseline level obtained from the control rats and taken as 100%. In CN, FFA returned to the baseline level within 3 h of treatment. However, in FC and HIP the concentration of FFA remained significantly elevated above the baseline until 6 h. The released FFA provide a substrate for free radicals formation. The results of this study suggest a role of oxidative stress in the mechanism of 3-NPA toxicity.