Wellmann Kristen A, George Finney, Brnouti Fares, Mooney Sandra M
Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, United States.
Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, United States.
Behav Brain Res. 2015 Jun 1;286:201-11. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2015.02.048. Epub 2015 Mar 5.
Prenatal ethanol exposure disrupts social behavior in humans and rodents. One system particularly important for social behavior is the somatosensory system. Prenatal ethanol exposure alters the structure and function of this area. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, is necessary for normal brain development and brains from ethanol-exposed animals are DHA deficient. Thus, we determined whether postnatal DHA supplementation ameliorated behavioral deficits induced by prenatal ethanol exposure. Timed pregnant Long-Evans rats were assigned to one of three groups: ad libitum access to an ethanol-containing liquid diet, pair fed an isocaloric isonutritive non-alcohol liquid diet, or ad libitum access to chow and water. Pups were assigned to one of two postnatal treatment groups; gavaged intragastrically once per day between postnatal day (P)11 and P20 with DHA (10 mg/kg in artificial rat milk) or artificial rat milk. A third group was left untreated. Isolation-induced ultrasonic vocalizations (iUSVs) were recorded on P14. Social behavior and play-induced USVs were tested on P28 or P42. Somatosensory performance was tested with a gap crossing test around P33 or on P42. Anxiety was tested on elevated plus maze around P35. Animals exposed to ethanol prenatally vocalized less, play fought less, and crossed a significantly shorter gap than control-treated animals. Administration of DHA ameliorated these ethanol-induced deficits such that the ethanol-exposed animals given DHA were no longer significantly different to control-treated animals. Thus, DHA administration may have therapeutic value to reverse some of ethanol's damaging effects.
产前乙醇暴露会破坏人类和啮齿动物的社交行为。对于社交行为特别重要的一个系统是体感系统。产前乙醇暴露会改变该区域的结构和功能。二十二碳六烯酸（DHA），一种ω-3多不饱和脂肪酸，是正常大脑发育所必需的，而乙醇暴露动物的大脑缺乏DHA。因此，我们确定产后补充DHA是否能改善产前乙醇暴露引起的行为缺陷。将定时怀孕的Long-Evans大鼠分为三组之一：自由摄取含乙醇的液体饮食、配对喂食等热量等营养的无酒精液体饮食，或自由摄取食物和水。幼崽被分配到两个产后治疗组之一；在出生后第（P）11天至P20天之间，每天一次通过灌胃给予DHA（在人工大鼠奶中为10mg/kg）或人工大鼠奶。第三组不进行治疗。在P14记录隔离诱导的超声波发声（iUSV）。在P28或P42测试社交行为和玩耍诱导的USV。在P33左右或P42用间隙穿越测试来测试体感性能。在P35左右在高架十字迷宫上测试焦虑。产前暴露于乙醇的动物发声较少，玩耍打斗较少，穿越的间隙明显比对照处理的动物短。给予DHA改善了这些乙醇诱导的缺陷，使得给予DHA的乙醇暴露动物与对照处理的动物不再有显著差异。因此，给予DHA可能具有治疗价值，以逆转乙醇的一些破坏作用。
