Influence of a dietary alpha-linolenic acid deficiency on learning in the Morris water maze and on the effects of morphine

Female OFl mice were fed on a diet deficient in alpha-linolenic acid or on a control diet 3 weeks before mating and throughout pregnancy and lactation. Pups fed on the same diet as their mothers were used for experiments. The effects of dietary alpha-linolenic acid deficiency were studied in a model of learning, the Morris water maze, and on the following effects of morphine: increase in locomotor activity, modifications of rectal temperature and analgesia. In the place and in the cue versions of the Morris water maze, learning occurred at the same speed in the two diet groups; however, in the place version of the test, the level of the performance was significantly lower in the deficient mice. The probe trial and the extinction procedure did not show any difference between the two diet groups. The morphine-induced increase in locomotor activity occurred significantly earlier and was greater in the deficient diet group. Morphine induced an early hypothermia followed by a late hyperthermia; the hypothermia was significantly greater and the hyperthermia significantly smaller in the deficient mice. The pain thresholds and the morphine-induced analgesia were unmodified by the dietary deficiency. The plasma levels of morphine were similar in the two diet groups.