THE ADMINISTRATION OF FISH OIL TO PREGNANT RATS AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF STRESS PREVENTS THE DISORDERS OF NITRIC OXIDE FORMATION AND ACTION IN OFFSPRING

Objectives. To assess the possibility to prevent the disturbances of nitric oxide (NO) formation and action system in prenatally stressed rats with the help of fish oil administered to their mothers during pregnancy against the background of stress. Material and methods. Outbred pregnant rats weighing 180-220 g were divided into equal groups (n=10): «Pregnant control», «Pregnant stress», «Pregnant control + fish oil», «Pregnant stress+fish oil». Stress was reproduced by exposure to stressors on different days of pregnancy: food deprivation during one day, contact with cats’ feces during one day, and immobilization in water (20 minutes, t°=23±2). Rats of the groups «Pregnant control + fish oil» and «Pregnant stress + fish oil» received 0.1 ml of fish oil (Biosola, Lithuania) as a gavage at a daily dose of 60 mg/kg of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids; rats of groups «Pregnant control» and «Pregnant stress» received an equivalent volume of starch solution (0.1 ml). In 3-month-old offspring (n=181), systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressure (SBP, DBP, MAP, respectively) were measured noninvasively; the concentration of endothelial and inducible isoforms of NO-synthase (eNOS and iNOS, respectively), cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) was determined in blood serum by ELISA; the content of nitrates/nitrites (NO3-/NO2-), diene conjugates (DC), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase was determined spectrophotometrically in blood serum. Results. Fish oil which was administered to pregnant rats under stress led to the increase of reduced compared with control males content of eNOS, cGMP, SOD, catalase, NO3-/NO2- (by 10.7%, 48.3%, 62.6%, 31.3%, 91.7%, respectively); the decrease of increased concentration of iNOS, ADMA, DC, MDA (by 21.8%, 37.4%, 61.2%, 75.9%, respectively) in the blood serum of male offspring. In female offspring of group «Pregnant stress + fish oil» the decrease of increased content of iNOS, DC, MDA (by 25.8%, 2.6 and 4.9 times, respectively) with the increase of reduced concentration of NO3-/NO2-, SOD (by 84.6%, 52%, respectively) were determined in the blood serum. The introduction of fish oil to pregnant rats against the background of stress prevented SBP, DBP, and MAP increasing in the offspring. Conclusions. The administration of fish oil to rats during pregnancy under chronic stress prevents the impairment of NO production and action in the offspring.