title: Visual acuity and retinal function in infant monkeys fed long-chain PUFA.
abstract: Previous randomized clinical trials suggest that supplementation of the human infant diet with up to 0.35% DHA may benefit visual development. The aim of the current study was to assess the impact of including arachidonic acid (AA) and a higher level of DHA in the postnatal monkey diet on visual development. Infant rhesus monkeys were fed either a control diet (2.0% alpha-linolenic acid as the sole n-3 FA) or a supplemented diet (1.0% DHA and 1.0% AA) from birth. Visual evoked potential acuity was measured at 3 mon of age. Rod and cone function were assessed in terms of parameters describing phototransduction. Electroretinogram (ERG) amplitudes and implicit times were recorded over a wide intensity range (-2.2 to 4.0 log scot td-sec) and assessed in terms of intensity response functions. Plasma DHA and AA were significantly increased (P < 0.001) in the diet-supplemented monkeys compared with the control monkeys. There was an approximately equal effect of diet for the rod phototransduction parameters, sensitivity, and capacitance but in the opposite directions. Diet-supplemented monkeys had significantly shorter b-wave implicit times at low retinal illuminances (<-0.6 log scot td-sec). There were no significant effects of diet for visual acuity or the other 23 ERG parameters measured. The results suggest that supplementation of the infant monkey diet with 1.0% DHA and 1.0% AA neither harms nor provides substantial benefit to the development of visual acuity or retinal function in the first four postnatal months.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Flinders Medical Centre, The Flinders University of South Australia, Bedford Park, Adelaide, SA 5042, Australia.
authors.forename: Brett G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Jeffrey
authors.forename: Drake C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: Joseph R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Hibbeln
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Gibson
authors.forename: A Lee
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Chedester
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Salem
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D016718:Arachidonic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004596:Electroretinography; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D012160:Retina / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D017949:Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D017948:Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D016718:Arachidonic Acid