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Asymmetry of Diacylglycerol Metabolism in Rat Cerebral Hemispheres
Author(s) -
Martínez Mercedes S. Ginóbili,
Turco Elena B. Rodríguez,
Barrantes Francisco J.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1986.tb01751.x
Subject(s) - medicine , chemistry , endocrinology , lateralization of brain function , basal (medicine) , endogeny , biology , neuroscience , insulin
Diacylglycerols (DGs) were found to be asymmetrically distributed between the two cerebral hemispheres of rat brain. The left cerebral hemisphere (LCH) contained 100% more DG than the right cerebral hemisphere (RCH). The lateralization was enhanced in animals subjected to depolarization induced by a single electroconvulsive shock (ECS). During the acute phase of the convulsion, the DG pool increased in both hemispheres, with the LCH attaining a concentration 180% higher than the RCH. Stearate and arachidonate were the principal DG‐acyl groups accumulated in the RCH, whereas in the LCH stearate and palmitate were mainly involved. After the last of a series of five shocks (one per day) the laterialization of the “DG response’ was less accentuated during the acute phase of the ECS. Whereas DG release was drastically reduced in the LCH, in the RCH it was minimally affected. The DG sidedness after five shocks was nevertheless maintained at the level of arachidonate‐containing DGs, which showed a higher accumulation in the LCH than in the RCH. The kinetics of DG removal showed a rapid phase during the first minute following a single or five ECSs. Total DG levels returned to basal values in the RCH, whereas in the LCH they remained slightly increased with respect to the initial levels 1 min after the convulsive episode. Minimal changes occurred in the subsequent 4 min. Chronic ECS altered the endogenous DG content and composition. Thus, 24 h after the last of four ECSs, total levels of DGs diminished by 40% in the RCH, whereas they remained unchanged in the LCH. The asymmetry in the basal levels between hemispheres was therefore accentuated. with the LCH containing 160% more DG than the RCH. These results suggest the lateralization of biochemical events involved in DG metabolism in rat cerebral hemispheres, both under basal conditions and after electrical stimulation.