The effect of maternal omega-3 fatty acid supplementation on behaviour and kindling rates of seizure-prone and seizure-resistant offspring

Abstract

The author has granted a nonexclusive license allowing Library and Archives Canada to reproduce, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, communicate to the public by telecommunication or on the Internet, loan, distribute and sell theses worldwide, for commercial or noncommercial purposes, in microform, paper, electronic and/or any other formats. L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public par telecommunication ou par f Internet, preter, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou autres formats. The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement reproduits sans son autorisation. In compliance with the Canadian Privacy Act some supporting forms may have been removed from this thesis. Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la protection de la vie privee, quelques formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included in the document page count, their removal does not represent any loss of content from the thesis. Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant.

Assessing the association between supplemented puppyhood dietary fat sources and owner-reported epilepsy in adulthood, among Finnish companion dogs

“…One study reported that mice fed a diet deficient in n-3 PUFA for 1 month were more predisposed to audiogenic seizures than those fed a diet with adequate n-3 PUFA ( 59 ). Another study found that maternal n-3 PUFA supplementation in seizure-resistant rat strains greatly reduced their seizure sensitivity whereas it was increased in a seizure-prone rat strain ( 60 ). Polyunsaturated fatty acids have shown protective effects against artificially induced seizures in experimental animals ( 61 – 64 ).…”

“…The success of omega-3 fats in the diet (or by using a ketogenic high fat diet) in the reduction of seizure frequency in humans and dogs as discussed above, indicates that the seizure disorder might be based on irregularities in the fatty acid metabolism, although not all studies have given similar results ( 72 ). Deficiency of fatty acids has also been reported to be associated with the development of seizure disorder, autistic spectrum disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ( 60 ). Deficiency of essential fatty acids, especially DHA, during the developmental periods associates with different types of epilepsy ( 73 ), which indicates that the proper DHA supplements are essential for optimal neurodevelopment.…”