An inhibitor of lipid peroxidation in developing human foetal brain

Supraependymal cells are phagocytic cells which prevent the membrane lipid damage by removing the superoxide radicals through superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase enzyme systems. Aim of this study was to find out the correlation between the increase in number of supraependymal cells with increasing age and the change in lipid peroxidation in human foetal brain. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of vagal triangle of fourth ventricle and lipid peroxidation studies were done on fresh aborted human fetal brain. Brain homogenates were shaken and mixed with equal volume of 10% trichloro acetic acid (TCA) solution .The resultant thio-barbituric acid reactive products were estimated in the protein free supernatant by the method of Wilbur, calculated as nanomoles of malonaldehyde. Proteins were estimated by the Folin-Lowry method (1951). Considerably high amounts of lipid peroxides were produced by fourth ventricle of human fetal brain upto 23rd week. During 26th and 27th week, the formation of lipid peroxides suddenly dropped with simultaneous appearance of a few supraependymal cells. The lipid peroxidation was further reduced to approximately half during 34th and 35th week as compared to 22nd and 23rd week indicating the presence of an inhibitor of lipid peroxidation, accompanied by the development of numerous supraependymal cells. The present study indicates that there is a correlation between the lipid peroxidation activity and the number of supraependymal cells of the brain as their appearance proportionately decreased the formation of lipid peroxides.