Frontiers in Neurology (Feb 2014)

Fish oil diet associated with acute reperfusion related haemorrhage, and with reduced stroke-related sickness behaviours and motor impairment

  • Michaela Celeste Pascoe,
  • David W Howells,
  • David Philip Crewther,
  • Nicki eConstantinou,
  • Leeanne M Carey,
  • Sarah S Rewell,
  • Giovanni Mario Turchini,
  • Gunveen eKaur,
  • Sheila Gillard Crewther

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2014.00014
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 5

Abstract

Read online

Ischemic stroke is associated with motor impairment and increased incidence of affective disorders such as anxiety/clinical depression. In non-stroke populations, successful management of such disorders and symptoms has been reported following diet supplementation with long chain omega-3-polyunsaturated-fatty-acids (PUFA). However, the potential protective effects of PUFA supplementation on affective behaviours after experimentally induced stroke and sham surgery have not been examined previously. This study investigated the behavioural effects of PUFA supplementation over a six-week period following either middle cerebral artery occlusion or sham surgery in the hooded-Wistar rat. The PUFA diet supplied during the acclimation period prior to surgery was found to be associated with an increased risk of acute haemorrhage following the reperfusion component of the surgery. In surviving animals, PUFA supplementation did not influence infarct size as determined six weeks after surgery, but did decrease omega-6-fatty-acid levels, moderate sickness behaviours, acute motor impairment and longer-term locomotor hyperactivity and depression/anxiety-like behaviour.

Keywords