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Diets containing long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids affect behaviour differently during development than ageing in mice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Isabelle Carrié*
Affiliation:
INSERM U. 26, Unité de Neuro-Pharmaco-Nutrition, Hôpital. F. Widal, 200 rue du Faubourg St Denis, 75010 Paris, France
Philippe Guesnet
Affiliation:
INRA, Laboratoire de Sécurité Alimentaire, 78352 Jouy en Josas, France
Jean-Marie Bourre
Affiliation:
INSERM U. 26, Unité de Neuro-Pharmaco-Nutrition, Hôpital. F. Widal, 200 rue du Faubourg St Denis, 75010 Paris, France
Henriette Francès
Affiliation:
INSERM U. 26, Unité de Neuro-Pharmaco-Nutrition, Hôpital. F. Widal, 200 rue du Faubourg St Denis, 75010 Paris, France
*
*Corresponding author: Dr Isabelle Carrié, fax +33 (1) 40 34 40 64, email [email protected]
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Abstract

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The effect of a standard diet providing essential fatty acids enriched in fish oil or palm oil was studied in young, mature and old mice. Two groups of pregnant and lactating OF1 mice were fed on diets with or without high levels of long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Offspring were maintained on these diets after weaning. The litter size did not differ. The weight increased more quickly in fish-oil-fed mice than palm-oil-fed mice. The fish-oil diet induced a significant increase in exploratory activity in young mice which was not found in mature and old mice. The level of locomotor activity was significantly higher in young, no different in mature, and lower in old fish-oil-fed mice than in controls. Habituation, the simpler form of learning, occurred to the same extent in the two diet groups. For the place learning protocol of the Morris water maze there was no difference between the two diet groups; however, in the probe trial, the mature fish-oil-fed mice remembered the situation well compared with the control mice. In the active avoidance test, on the first day of acquisition the young fish-oil-fed mice made more avoidances than control mice, whereas in contrast, mature and old-fish-fed mice made less avoidances than control mice. These results suggest a positive effect on arousal and learning ability of a diet enriched in long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in young mice and a detrimental effect in old mice.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2000

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