Maternal diet of polyunsaturated fatty acid altered the cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus of hippocampus and influenced glutamatergic and serotoninergic systems of neonatal female rats.

Mimi Tang,Yiping Liu,Pei Jiang,Huande Li,Ruili Dang,Min Zhang,Ying Xue,Xin He,Yanqin Wu,Hualin Cai,Lingjuan Cao

doi:10.1186/s12944-016-0236-1

Abstract

BackgroundLong-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are major components of the phospholipids that forming the cell membrane. Insufficient availability of PUFAs during prenatal period decreases accretion of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in the developing brain. DHA deficiency is associated with impaired attention and cognition, and would precipitate psychiatric symptoms. However, clinical studies on the potential benefits of dietary DHA supplementation to neural development have yielded conflicting results.MethodsTo further investigate the neurochemical influence of maternal PUFAs levels, we assessed the functioning of various neurotransmitter systems including glutamatergic, dopaminergic, norepinephrinergic and serotoninergic systems in the brain of neonatal female rats by HPLC-MS/MS. Meanwhile, the cell proliferation of neonatal rats was investigated using immunefluorescence.ResultsDifferent maternal n-3 PUFAs dietary influenced the FA composition, cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus of hippocampus and the contents of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamine (GLN), dopamine (DA) and its metabolites [3,4- dihydroxyphenyl acetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanillic acid (HVA)], norepinephrine (NE), vanilmandelic acid (VMA) and 5-HT turnover in the brain of neonatal rats. However, the mRNA expression of key synthase of neurotransmitters remains stable.ConclusionsOur study showed that maternal deficiency of n-3 PUFAs might play an important role in central nervous system of neonatal female rats mainly through impairing the normal neurogenesis and influencing glutamatergic system and 5-HT turnover.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12944-016-0236-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Highlights

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are major components of the phospholipids that forming the cell membrane
Maternal deficiency of Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) decrease the cell proliferation in neonatal female rats Newborn cells in the developing rat dentate gyrus can be quantified by immunostaining of BrdU incorporated into the nuclei of dividing cells [10]
analysis of variance (ANOVA) analyses showed that cell proliferation in neonatal female rats was significant decreased in Deficient group than that in Control group (P < 0.01, Fig. 1)

Summary

Introduction

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are major components of the phospholipids that forming the cell membrane. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are major components of the phospholipids that form the cell membranes of tissues and play an important role in the structure of neuronal cells in the central nervous system, where they are of the highest concentrations [1]. As indicated in previous studies, accumulation of large amounts of arachidonic acid (20:4n–6, AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n–3, DHA) in the membranes of the brain during late prenatal and early postnatal is essential for its development [2]. Variation in brain FA composition, decreased DHA in specific, affects neurodevelopment, alters visual, attention and cognitive functions, and exhibited symptoms of anxiety, aggression and depression in animals models [3]. One of our aims in the present study is to determine the effects of maternal n-3 PUFAs deficiency or supplementation on brain FA composition in neonatal female rats

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