title: Maternal diet fatty acid composition affects neurodevelopment in rat pups.
abstract: The effect of pre- and postnatal maternal dietary fatty acid composition on neurodevelopment in rat pups was studied. Timed pregnant dams were fed, beginning on d 2 of gestation and throughout lactation, either nonpurified diet (reference) or a purified diet whose fat source (22% of energy) was either corn oil or menhaden fish oil. On postnatal d 3, pups were randomly cross-fostered among dams of the same diet group and culled to 10 pups per dam. Milk was removed from stomachs of culled pups for fatty acid analyses. From postnatal d 4 to 30, pups were assessed daily for the appearance of neurodevelopmental reflexes. Auditory brainstem conduction times were measured on postnatal d 23 and 29. Pups were killed on postnatal d 30, and cerebrums were removed for fatty acid analyses. The fatty acid composition of maternal milk and pup cerebrums reflected maternal diet with higher levels of (n-3) and (n-6) fatty acids in the fish oil and corn oil groups, respectively. The time of appearance of auditory startle was significantly delayed (P = 0.004), and auditory brainstem conduction times on postnatal d 23 and 29 were significantly longer in pups of the fish oil- than corn oil-fed dams (P </= 0.05). A delay in the appearance of the auditory startle reflex and longer auditory brainstem conduction times in pups of dams fed fish oil-supplemented diet may be due to negative effects on myelination of the auditory brainstem pathway.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa, FL 33612, USA.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Saste
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Carver
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Stockard
authors.forename: V J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Benford
authors.forename: L T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Phelps
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000254:growth & development*; D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D004032:Diet; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D009420:Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000196:embryology* / Q000254:growth & development*; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids