Effects of maternal deprivation stress and maternal dietary of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on the neurobehavioral development of male offspring

Objectives: Early-life stress and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have profound effects on brain development. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are essential nutrients and normal components for development. The aims of this study are to investigate the effects of maternal deprivation (MD) stress and maternal dietary of n-3 PUFAs on the physical and neurobiological developments of offspring. Methods: According to the content of n-3 PUFAs in diets, female dams were divided into three groups (n = 6-7): deficiency, control and supplementary. MD paradigm was performed 6 h a day from postnatal days (PND) 1 to PND 14. The physical parameters and neurobehavioral tests were measured. Results: Different effects of MD stress, maternal diet and time on physical and neurobehavioral developments were observed. There was an interaction among stress, diet and time on body weight. MD stress markedly decreased weight among different diet groups, while deficiency diet significantly increased weight on PND 21 in N-MD pups and on PND 14 in MD pups. Moreover, MD stress delayed fur appearance and eye opening, whereas deficiency diet accelerated eye opening. On cliff avoidance and rearing frequency, MD pups performed worse; however a subtle delay on the surface righting was observed in supplementary group. Additionally, MD pups performed worse on PND 14 in forelimb grip. Unfortunately, there were no significant effects on incisor eruption, locomotion frequency and negative geotaxis. Discussion: This study suggests that early MD and inadequate intake of n-3 PUFAs are harmful to optimal growth and neurobehavioral development.