July 21/Porto Alegre, Brazil/Pain & Central Nervous System Week -- According to a study from Porto Alegre, Brazil, "Essential omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega 3) are crucial to brain development and function, being relevant for behavioral performance. In the present study, we examined the influence of dietary omega 3 in the development of the glutamatergic system and on behavior parameters in rats."

"Female rats received isocaloric diets, either with omega-3 (omega-3 group) or a omega-3 deficient diet (D group). In ontogeny experiments of their litters, hippocampal immunocontent of ionotropic NMDA and AMPA glutamatergic receptors subunits (NR2 A/B and GluR1, respectively) and the alpha isoform of the calcium-calmodulin protein kinase type II (alpha CaMKII) were evaluated. Additionally, hippocampal [H-3]glutamate binding and uptake were assessed. Behavioral performance was evaluated when the litters were adult (60 days old), through the open-field, plus-maze, inhibitory avoidance and flinch-jump tasks. The D group showed decreased immunocontent of all proteins analyzed at two days of life (P2) in comparison with the omega 3 group, although the difference disappeared at 21 days of life (except for alpha CaMKII, which content normalized at 60 days old). The same pattern was found for [H-3]glutamate binding, whereas [H-3]glutamate uptake was not affected. The D group also showed memory deficits in the inhibitory avoidance, increased in the exploratory pattern in open-field, and anxiety-like behavior in plus-maze. Taken together, our results suggest that dietary omega-3 content is relevant for glutamatergic system development and for behavioral performance in adulthood," wrote J.D. Moreira and colleagues.