Possible essentiality of docosahexaenoic acid in Japanese monkey neonates: Occurrence in colostrum and low biosynthetic capacity in neonate brains

The importance of mother's milk as a source of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in Japanese monkey neonates was investigated. The DHA content in monkey colostrum total lipids was 2.2%, similar to or slightly higher than in humans. A comparison of the biosynthetic capacity of brain microsomes from monkeys of different age (up to 10 years) showed that chain elongation/desaturation of linolenic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid in neonates was significantly less pronounced than in adults. In particular, the formation of DHA, which is the product of Δ4 desaturase, was negligible. These results suggest that milk is an important source of DHA in Japanese monkey neonates.