DHA Mitigates Autistic Behaviors Accompanied by Dopaminergic Change in a Gene/Prenatal Stress Mouse Model

Publication date: 10 February 2018 Source:Neuroscience, Volume 371 Author(s): Fumihiro Matsui, Patrick Hecht, Kanji Yoshimoto, Yoshihisa Watanabe, Masafumi Morimoto, Kevin Fritsche, Matthew Will, David Beversdorf Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by impairments in social interaction, social communication, and repetitive and stereotyped behaviors. Recent work has begun to explore gene × environmental interactions in the etiology of ASD. We previously reported that prenatal stress exposure in stress-susceptible heterozygous serotonin transporter (SERT) KO pregnant dams in a mouse model resulted in autism-like behavior in the offspring (SERT/S mice). The association between prenatal stress and ASD appears to be affected by maternal SERT genotype in clinical populations as well. Using the mouse model, we examined autistic-like behaviors in greater detail, and additionally explored whether diet supplementation with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) may mitigate the behavioral changes. Only male SERT/S mice showed social impairment and stereotyped behavior, and DHA supplementation ameliorated some of these behaviors. We also measured monoamine levels in the SERT/S mice after three treatment paradigms: DHA-rich diet continuously from breeding (DHA diet), DHA-rich diet only after weaning (CTL/DHA diet) and control diet only (CTL diet). The dopamine (DA) content in the striatum was significantly increased in the SERT/S mice compared with wild-type (WT) mice, wher...

Source: Neuroscience - January 17, 2018 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research