The Role of Oleic Acid as a Substitute for Glucose in Brain Cell Cultures of Neonatal Mice

The effects which most of the substances utilized in neonatology may exert on the brain of the newborn are unknown. For example, there is a lack of basic knowledge on the effects of the components of parenteral nutrition (amino acids, fat and even glucose) on the developing brain. By using dissociated brain cell cultures of newborn mice as a model for studying brain metabolism, we investigated certain aspects of cerebral energy metabolism. One aspect we decided to study was the role of alternative energetic substrates in brain during glucose deprivation.