Palsdottir Vilborg, Månsson Jan-Eric, Blomqvist Maria, Egecioglu Emil, Olsson Bob
Department of Physiology/Endocrinology, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Behav Neurosci. 2012 Apr;126(2):361-9. doi: 10.1037/a0027161. Epub 2012 Feb 20.
Dietary essential fatty acids have been shown to regulate behavioral and cognitive functions in rodents. However, the long-term effect on behavior, besides memory and learning, of essential fatty acid deficiency (EFAD), i.e., lack of n-3 and n-6 fatty acids, during the perinatal period has not been investigated. Therefore, pregnant C57Bl/6 mice were given either an EFAD or an isoenergetic control diet from gestational day 16 and throughout lactation. The female offspring were given standard chow from 3 weeks of age, and at 12 to 14 weeks of age, open-field, object recognition, light-dark transition, elevated plus maze, and social interaction tests were performed. The brain glycerophospholipid fatty acid composition was investigated in 3-week-old and adult offspring by gas chromatography. The differences observed in behavior were indicative of lower anxiety in the EFAD mice compared to controls illustrated by more time spent in the open arms of the elevated plus maze (+ 41%, p < .05) and in the light compartment in the light-dark transition test (+ 63%, p < .05). The proportion of total n-3 fatty acids, especially 22:6n-3 in the brain, was lower with a compensatory increase in the proportion of total n-6 fatty acids, foremost 22:5n-6, in the EFAD mice compared to controls at 3 weeks of age. In the adult brains the fatty acid composition was normalized. In conclusion, our data show that EFAD during the perinatal period results in short-term alterations of fatty acid composition in brain and decreased anxiety in adult life.
膳食必需脂肪酸已被证明可调节啮齿动物的行为和认知功能。然而，围产期必需脂肪酸缺乏（EFAD），即缺乏n-3和n-6脂肪酸，对行为（除记忆和学习外）的长期影响尚未得到研究。因此，从妊娠第16天开始直至整个哺乳期，给怀孕的C57Bl/6小鼠喂食EFAD饮食或等能量的对照饮食。雌性后代从3周龄开始喂食标准食物，在12至14周龄时，进行旷场试验、物体识别试验、明暗转换试验、高架十字迷宫试验和社交互动试验。通过气相色谱法研究3周龄和成年后代的脑甘油磷脂脂肪酸组成。观察到的行为差异表明，与对照组相比，EFAD小鼠的焦虑程度较低，这表现为在高架十字迷宫的开放臂中停留的时间更长（增加41%，p<.05），以及在明暗转换试验的亮区停留的时间更长（增加63%，p<.05）。与3周龄的对照组相比，EFAD小鼠脑中总n-3脂肪酸的比例，尤其是22:6n-3的比例较低，而总n-6脂肪酸的比例，主要是22:5n-6的比例则代偿性增加。在成年脑中，脂肪酸组成恢复正常。总之，我们的数据表明，围产期的EFAD会导致脑脂肪酸组成的短期改变，并降低成年后的焦虑水平。
