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

The present study evaluated the effects of chronic Aβ administration on radio-labeled plasma fatty acid incorporation in rat brain. Aβ was chronically infused intraventricularly via an osmotic minipump, for 1 week, at a concentration of 460 μM. 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 Aβ showed no differences between control (vehicle infusion only) and experimental groups. However, in vitro tests on the cytotoxicity of Aβ showed that it caused significant cell death relative to controls (PC-12 cells). The lack of effect of infused Aβ on radiolabeled fatty acid incorporation is discussed.