Effects of chronic beta-amyloid treatment on fatty acid incorporation into rat brain

The present study evaluated the effects of chronic A beta administration on radio-labeled plasma fatty acid incorporation in rat brain. A beta was chronically infused intraventricularly via an osmotic minipump, for 1 week, at a concentration of 460 mu M. After the infusion, fatty acid incorporation was quantified using an in vivo method developed in this laboratory. Three radiolabeled fatty acids were separately infused IV in awake animals. Biochemical analyses of fatty acid incorporation and histology for A beta showed no differences between control (vehicle infusion only) and experimental groups. However, in vitro tests on the cytotoxicity of A beta showed that it caused significant cell death relative to controls (PC-12 cells). The lack of effect of infused A beta on radiolabeled fatty acid incorporation is discussed.