title: Maternal arachidonic acid supplementation improves neurodevelopment in young adult offspring from rat dams with and without diabetes.
abstract: Maternal diabetes may compromise infant arachidonic acid (AA) status and development. This study tested if maternal AA supplementation improves neurodevelopment in adult offspring. Rat dams were randomized into 6 groups: Saline-Placebo, streptozotocin-induced diabetes with glucose controlled at <13mmol/L, or poorly controlled at 13-20mmol/L using insulin; and fed either a Control or AA (0.5% fat) diet throughout reproduction. Weaned-offspring were fed regular chow to 12 weeks of age. Testing included exploratory behavior, rota rod and water maze (WM). Poorly controlled offspring showed longer (p≤0.018) escape-latency on testing-day 1 WM but not thereafter (p>0.05). Maternal glucose concentration positively correlated with (p=0.006) male offspring testing-day 1 WM latency. The AA-diet offspring performed better in WM and rota rod (p≤0.032) and showed higher exploratory behavior (p=0.008) than Control-diet offspring. These data suggest maternal hyperglycemia has longstanding consequences to initial stages of learning in the offspring. Maternal AA supplementation and training positively influence learning outcomes.
authors.affiliation: School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, McGill University, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, Canada H9X 3V9.
authors.forename: Jinping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Marc R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Del Bigio
authors.forename: Hope A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Weiler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016718:Arachidonic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development*; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000378:metabolism*; D004032:Diet; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D018782:Maze Learning; D011247:Pregnancy; D011254:Pregnancy in Diabetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D039401:Prenatal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D016718:Arachidonic Acid