Abstract
Sialic acid is an important component of brain which is needed to form ganglioside molecule of brain’s membrane, while sphingomyelin has a role in myelination of central nervous system during the growth development of babies. The aims of this research were to analyze the sialic acid and sphingomyelin contents of the brain of mice and compared with their contents in the ration of mice. The study was carried out in three phases as follows: i.e., ration formulation, analysis of sialic acid and sphingomyelin contents in the ration, and analysis of sialic acid and sphingomyelin contents of the brain of mice. The mice used were Swiss Webster strain, male, weaned, aged 28 days, with a total number of 32. Analysis of sialic acid content was conducted using UV spectrophotometer, while sphingomyelin analysis was done by using HPLC. The data obtained were tested statistically using SPSS 17.0 software. The results showed that sialic acid and sphingomyelin contents of brain of mice fed F1, F2 and F3 rations (supplemented with egg yolk) were greater than that of mice fed F0 (control) ration.