Maternal Omega-3 Status: Effects of Cross-Fostering on Offspring Brain Lipids and Hippocampal Neurogenesis
Résumé
Omega-3 fatty acids (ω3 or n-3) are essential components of cerebral membrane structures, and have to be supplied in sufficient amounts in fetus and infants who display very limited synthesis capacities. Therefore, the maternal supply is a crucial factor in brain development. Here, we have determined the consequences of cross-fostering pups to ω3-supplemented or -deficient mothers; we analyzed phospholipid (PL) brain compositions, and the rate of hippocampal neurogenesis in the 4-month old offspring. In offspring born to deficient mothers and fostered by ω3-supplemented mothers, the levels of ω3 are restored entirely in ethanolamine-phosphoglycerolipid (EPG), and partially in phosphatidylcholine (PC). However, the rate of neurogenesis is lower than in the pups born to supplemented mothers and fed a diet rich in ω3 lifelong. This shows that in the brain, not all the consequences of in utero ω3 deficit may be compensated by later supplementation, even when started at the lactating period. These results plead for an early ω3 maternal supplementation, prior to and during pregnancy.