Abstract
[14C]palmitate and [3H]choline were injected intravitreally and, at the same time, intraventricularly in Wistar male rats at 4, 10, and 24 mo of age. The precursor incorporation into lipids of the retina, optic nerve tract, superior colliculus, and lateral geniculate body was followed for 2 h. The specific radioactivity of precursors pool (choline, phosphorylcholine, and free fatty acids) showed a marked decrease in optic nerve tract and lateral geniculate body of aged rats, whereas in retinal tissue and superior colliculus no changes were observed as a function of age. In rats of the three age groups, whole retina and superior colliculus showed neither changes of choline incorporation into phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin nor alteration of palmitate incorporation into diacylglycerols, triacylglycerols, and major phospholipid classes as a function of age. In sharp contrast, the optic nerve tract and, to a lesser extent, the lateral geniculate body exhibited a significant age-related decline of either the incorporation of both precursors into all lipid classes or the specific radioactivities of endogeneous precursor pools. We concluded that the visual pathway structures are metabolically affected in a different manner by aging. Particularly, the ability of the retina and superior colliculus to metabolize lipids appeared to be age invariant. The marked decline of lipid biosynthesis with age, for some visual structures, is consistent with the trend generally observed in metabolic turnover and function of other CNS regions.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alberghina M., Viola M., Insirello L., and Giuffrida Stella A. M. (1988a) Agerelated changes of RNA and lipid synthesis in vitro by retina and optic nerve of the rat.Neurochem. Pathol. 8, 131–148.
Alberghina M. and Giuffrida Stella A. M. (1988b) Age-related changes of ribonuclease activities in various regions of the rat central nervous system.J. Neurochem. 51, 21–24.
Altavista M. C., Bentivoglio A. R., Crociani P., Rossi P., and Albanese A. (1988) Age-dependent loss of cholinergic neurones in basal ganglia of rats.Brain Res. 455, 177–181.
Bertoni-Freddari C., Giuli C., Pieri C., and Paci D. (1986) Quantitative investigation of the rat dentate gyrus during aging.Brain Res. 366, 187–192.
Cosgrove J. W., Atack J. R., and Rapoport S. I. (1987) Regional analysis of rat brain proteins during senescence.Exp. Gerontol. 22, 187–198.
Dolman C. L., McCormick A. Q., and Drance S. M. (1980) Aging of the optic nerve.Arch. Ophthaimol. 98, 2053–2058.
Gartner S., and Henkind P. (1981) Aging and degeneration of the human macula. 1. Outer nuclear layer and photoreceptors.Br. J. Ophthalmol. 65, 23–28.
Gatti C., Noremberg K., Brunetti M., Teolato S., Calderini G., and Gaiti A. (1986) Turnover of palmitic and arachidonic acids in the phospholipids from different brain areas of adult and aged rats.Neurochem. Res. 11, 241–252.
Ingvar M. C., Maeder P., Sokoloff L., and Smith C. B. (1985) Effects of aging on local rates of cerebral protein synthesis in Sprague-Dawley rats.Brain 108, 155–170.
Katz M. L. and Robinson W. G. (1986) Evidence of cell loss from the rat retina during senescence.Exp. Eye Res. 42, 293–304.
Leong S. F., Lai C. K., Lim L., and Clark J. B. (1981) Energy-metabolising enzymes in brain regions of adult and aging rats.J. Neurochem. 37, 1548–1556.
Lund R. D. (1969) Synaptic pattern of the superficial layers of the superior colliculus of the rat.J. Comp. Neurol. 135, 179–208.
Marmor M. F. (1982) Aging and the retina,Aging and Human Visual Function (Dismukes K., Kline D., and Sekular R, eds.), Liss, New York, pp. 59–78.
Marshall J., Grindle J., Ansell P. L., and Borwein B. (1979) Convolution in human rods: an aging process.Brit. J. Ophthalmol. 63, 181–187.
Masland R. H. and Mills J. W. (1979) Autoradiographic identification of acetylcholine in the rabbit retina.J. Cell Biol. 83, 159–178.
Mazzola G. and Kent C. (1984) Separation of choline- and ethanolamine-labeled metabolites by ion-exchange high-pressure liquid chromatography.Anal. Biochem. 141, 137–142.
Mishima H., Kondo K., and Fujita H. (1982) Cytological and morphometric changes in the aging mouse retinal pigment epithelium,The structure of the eye (Hollyfield J. G., ed.), Elsevier, New York, pp. 257–261.
Mooradian A. D. (1988) Effect of aging on the blood-brain barrier.Neurobiol. Aging 9, 31–39.
Rotstein N. P., Ilincheta de Boschero M. G., Giusto N. M., and Aveldano M. I. (1987) Effects of aging on the composition and metabolism of docosahexaenoate-containing lipids of retina.Lipids 22, 253–260.
Saito M., Kindel G., Karczmar A. G., and Rosenberg A. (1986) Metabolism of choline in brain of the aged CBF-1 mouse.J. Neurosci. Res. 15, 197–204.
Satorre J., Cano J., and Reinoso-Suarez F. (1985) Stability of the neuronal population of the dorsal geniculate nucleus (LGBd) of aged rats.Brain Res. 339, 375–377.
Serra I., Alberghina M., Viola M., and Giuffrida A. M. (1981) Effect of hypoxia on nucleic acid and protein synthesis in different brain regions.Neurochem. Res. 6, 595–605.
Shinowara N. L., London E. D., and Rapoport S. I. (1982) Changes in retinal morphology and glucose utilization in aging albino rats.Exp. Eye Res. 34, 517–530.
Swanson L. W., Cowan W. M., and Jones E. G. (1974) An autoradiographic study of the efferent connections of the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus in the albino rat and the cat.J. Comp. Neurol. 156, 143–164.
Takayama M., Itoh S., Nagasaki T., and Tanimizu I. (1977) A new enzymatic method for determination of serum choline-containing phospholipids.Clin. Chim. Acta 79, 93–98.
von Hahn H. P. (1981) Nucleic acids in the aging brain and the concept of aging,The Molecular Basis of Neuropathology (Davison A. N. and Thompson R. H. S., eds.), Edward Arnold, London, pp. 579–590.
Weale R. A. (1975) Senile changes in visual activity.Trans. Ophthalmol. Soc. UK 95, 36–38.
Wolf E. and Nadroski A. S. (1971) Extent of the visual field: changes with age and oxygen tensionArch. Ophthalmol. 86, 637–642.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Alberghina, M., Viola, M. Region-selective decline of in vivo lipid synthesis in the aged rat visual system. Molecular and Chemical Neuropathology 11, 109–122 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03160045
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03160045