Fish oil prevents the development of arterial hypotension in rats with post-traumatic stress disorder

Abstract

Objectives. To evaluate the nature and mechanisms of the protective effect of fish oil (FO) on systemic hemodynamics in rats with an experimental analogue of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Material and methods. The studies were carried out on 50 outbred white male rats weighing 210-240 g, divided into groups: «Control», «PTSD», «FO», «FO+PTSD». An analogue of PTSD was reproduced by rats contacting with cat feces for 10 days for 15 minutes daily. Fish oil was administered intragastrically in doses of 0.2 ml (100 mg/kg body weight of eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids, CJSC «Biosola», Lithuania) 3 days before modelling PTSD and during 10 days of stressor action. After 2 weeks, systolic, diastolic, mean arterial blood pressure (SBP, DBP, MAP) and heart rate (HR) were measured by a non-invasive method. The concentration of endothelial NO-synthase (eNOS), inducible NO-synthase (iNOS), corticosterone, C-reactive protein (C-RP), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) was determined in blood serum by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); spectrophotometric method was used to determine the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA), diene conjugates (DC), as well as the activity of catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Results. In animals with PTSD, there was a decrease in SBP, DBP and MAP by 18-23% and an increase in heart rate by 20%. The concentration of eNOS in the blood of rats with PTSD decreased by 28%, and iNOS increased 2.28 times, along with 3.3 and 3.6 times increase in the content of DC and MDA against the background of the decreased SOD activity by 27%, CAT by 59% and 1.6 and 3 times increase in the concentration of C-RP and IL-1β, respectively, compared with the control. The introduction of FO either prevented or significantly limited the severity of the detected changes. Conclusions. The introduction of fish oil to rats prevents the development of arterial hypotension, as well as the changes in the concentration of eNOS and iNOS, it also prevents the disruption of the prooxidant-antioxidant status of blood serum, and reduces the severity of systemic inflammation in animals with PTSD.

Keywords

• post-traumatic stress disorder
• fish oil
• arterial blood pressure
• nitric oxide
• prooxidant-antioxidant status