The effect of age on lipid composition and order of rat cerebral microvessels.

To determine if alterations in lipid composition and/or membrane order of cerebral microvessels may contribute to the age-related changes in blood-brain barrier (BBB) function, cerebral microvessels isolated from male Fischer 344 rats at 3 (young), 12 (intermediate age), and 24 (aged) months of age were studied. The steady state fluorescence polarization of diphenylhexatriene incorporated into isolated cerebral microvessel membranes at 35 degrees C, in aged rats was not different compared to young rats (0.2787 +/- 0.0029 vs 0.2847 +/- 0.0049). In addition, the thermotropic transition temperature of these membranes was not altered with age. Moreover, the fatty acid composition, the double bond index as well as cholesterol to phospholipid molar ratios were not significantly altered with age. In contrast, the concentration of conjugated dienes in lipid extracts of cerebral microvessels of aged rats (10.04 +/- 1.10 O.D./mg phospholipids) was significantly increased compared to the concentration in young rats (6.98 +/- 0.52 O.D./mg phospholipids) (p less than 0.01). It is concluded that aging is not associated with significant changes in lipid composition or membrane order of cerebral microvessels. However, the increased concentration of conjugated dienes in cerebral microvessels of aged rats is indicative on ongoing free radical damage in these microvessels which may contribute to the age-related changes in BBB function.