Abstract: An NMRbased metabonomic approach was applied to characterize the dynamic changes of regional metabolic profiles in the brain of chick embryo during development from incubation day 12 to postnatal day 1. The NMR spectra of intact brain tissues from the cerebrum, cerebellum and optic lobes of chick embryo were acquired using high-resolution magic-angle-spinning (HR-MAS) ¹H NMR spectroscopy, and statistically classified using principle component analysis (PCA). The levels of 25 metabolites were measured quantitatively. The results indicated that the metabolic profiles were different among each other in three brain regions during development. The main contributors to the classification were the concentrations of GABA, NAA, taurine and myo-inositol.

Key words: NMR, metabonomics, HR-MAS, chick embryo, brain tissues