Polyunsaturated fatty acids in the blood of spontaneously or induced muricidal male Wistar rats.
Serum levels of several n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids were compared in male Wistar muricidal (Mu) and non-Mu rats. The Mu behavior was either spontaneous or induced by long-term isolation, feeding with a starch-enriched polyunsaturated fatty acid diet (PUFA+S), water restriction, or adrenalectomy (ADX). Arachidonic acid (ARA) levels were lower in diet-induced (PUFA+S) Mu rats than in their non-Mu controls. Total n-6 fatty acid levels were also lower in spontaneously Mu rats than in spontaneously non-Mu rats. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and total n-3 fatty acids levels were lower in rats with isolation-induced Mu behavior. The n-3/n-6 ratio was higher in spontaneously Mu rats than in spontaneously non-Mu rats. The changes in ARA levels were greater than those in DHA levels, possibly due to the higher blood-brain barrier passage of arachidonic acid. The results were analyzed in the light of recent results showing a role of PUFAs in human and animal behavior.
INSERM U480, Faculté de Médecine Grange Blanche, 8 av. Rockefeller, Lyon 69008, France.
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Augier
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Penes
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Debilly
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Miachon
D000315:Adrenalectomy / Q000379:methods; D000374:Aggression / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated / Q000145:classification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000097:blood* / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D011610:Psychosocial Deprivation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014868:Water Deprivation
D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated