Fatty acid composition of phospholipids in different regions of developing human fetal brain

The fatty acid composition of total phospholipids in different regions, viz., cerebrum, cerebellum and medulla oblongata, of developing human fetal brain was studied. All the brains analyzed in the present investigations were obtained from fetuses whose mothers belonged to the poor socioeconomic section of the population. Palmitic, oleic and stearic acids were found to be the dominant fatty acids, and the pattern was similar in all regions of the brain studied between the ages of 22 and 35 weeks. However at birth there appeared to be an increase in polyenoic acids at the expense of lower chain fatty acids, and these changes were of relatively higher magnitude in the cerebellum than in other regions studied. These changes, in terms of increase in polyunsaturated fatty acids near full term, coincided well with the already observed timing of an overall growth spurt of the brain a few weeks preceding birth.