Effects of Fish Oil Enriched Diets on Functional Development in the Offspring of Hypertensive Rats

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of consumption of fish oil enriched diets on the blood pressure of hypertensive pregnant dams and the effect of such diets on the functional and psychomotor development of their pups. Spontaneously hypertensive rats and their normotensive consanguineous brothers were divided into four groups: normotensives fed with a control diet, hypertensives fed with a control diet, normotensives fed with a fish oil enriched diet, and hypertensives fed with a fish oil enriched diet. The blood pressure of dams was measured during gestation. Swimming ability, home-orienting ability, andeye-opening age were used as indicators of functional, psychomotor and sensory development. Aω-3 fatty acid supplement produced decreased systolic blood pressure in hypertensive dams and the pups displayed improvement in sensory but not in psychomotor development and swimming ability. The offspring of normotensive rats eating fish oil enriched diets did not show improvement in motor and sensory development. These results suggest that the administration of aω-3 fatty acids supplement during pregnancy can improve sensory development (particularly eye-opening) in offspring of hypertensive rats.