title: Dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid deprivation together with early maternal separation increases anxiety and vulnerability to stress in adult rats.
abstract: Low concentrations of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and chronic stress are implicated in susceptibility to mood disorders. We have investigated the combined effects of chronic n-3 PUFA dietary deficiency and early maternal separation (MS) stress on the reactivity to stressful situations of rats as adults. Pups fed a control or an n-3 PUFA deficient diet were daily separated for two weeks before weaning They were all tested at 3 month-old to determine their anxiety, and their ability to learn two aversive tasks differing in the control they could exert on the situation: auditory fear conditioning and brightness avoidance discrimination. Neither the n-3 PUFA-deficient diet nor MS alone significantly affected behavior. But n-3 PUFA-deficient rats that had been separated were more anxious and fearful in inescapable situations, while their ability to cope with an aversive avoidance task remained unaffected. These results support the notion that PUFA-unbalanced diet, together with stress, may be a determinant risk factor in emotional disorders.
authors.affiliation: INRA, Unité de Nutrition et Régulation Lipidiques des Fonctions Cérébrales, NuRéLiCe, UR909, Domaine de Vilvert, Jouy en Josas F-78352, France.
authors.forename: Géraldine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mathieu
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Oualian
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Denis
authors.forename: Monique
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lavialle
authors.forename: Pascale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gisquet-Verrier
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vancassel
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology*; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D001835:Body Weight; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D004597:Electroshock; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D046352:Freezing Reaction, Cataleptic; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000150:complications*; D008426:Maternal Deprivation; D051381:Rats; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology*
chemical_list: D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3