c.v. administration, measured in the elevated plus maze, as well as the elevation of corticosterone (Song et al., 2003). These data suggest that PUFAs reduce the stress response and help to maintain HPA axis integrity. Recent data also show that omega-3 supplementation prevents the expression of depressive-type behavior of rats submitted to the FST (Carlezon et al., 2005, Huang et al., 2008 and Venna et al., 2009) and potentiates imipramine effect (Venna et al., 2009). More specifically, Naliwaiko and colleagues (2004) showed that omega-3 supplementation during pregnancy, lactation and adulthood produced anti-depressant effects. Moreover, this

beneficial effect can be seen regardless of the period in which omega-3 is offered, preventing the development of depressive-type behavior Epacadostat (Ferraz et al., 2008). This result, however, was not observed in the FST in another study using acute or chronic omega-3 supplementation (Shaldubina et al., 2002). Our results are in agreement with the abovementioned behavioral findings and

showed that both coconut fat and fish oil, as well as PNS, reduced corticosterone secretion. In addition, swimming behavior was augmented, whereas climbing was reduced in the groups that received fish oil compared to regular diet. Therefore, the literature data seem contradictory as to the effects of omega-3, but the divergences could be explained by numerous factors, such as the way that omega-3 is supplemented, PUFA’s origin, and the amount of other PUFAs in the oil or diet. In a study on the Tacrolimus purchase effects of PUFA on epilepsy, alpha-linolenic acid, but not its derivatives docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid, was shown to be important for the behavioral effects (Porta et al., 2009).

In conclusion, the present data support the idea that PNS caused long-term behavioral and hormonal changes in adulthood and that coconut fat and fish oil exerted anti-depressant effects and reduced corticosterone stress-induced levels in control animals. All procedures were carried out in accordance with the guidelines of the National Institute of Health (NIH) and approved by the Ethics Committee in Animal Research of UNIFESP (protocol #: 1689/05). Two-month Teicoplanin old virgin female Wistar rats, weighing an average 281 g, were kept under a 12 h light/12 h dark cycle (lights on at 07:00 AM) in a temperature-controlled room (23 ± 2 °C). Food and water were available ad libitum. The dams were provided one of the three diets: regular diet (n = 20, PNS = 12 and CTL = 8), fish oil-supplemented diet (n = 12, PNS = 7 and CTL = 5) and coconut fat-supplemented diet (n = 10, PNS = 5 and CTL = 5). Animals from both supplemented groups were adapted to the diets for two weeks before the beginning of the study and then were mated with sexually experienced Wistar males. The supplementation was offered throughout pregnancy (21 days) and lactation (21 days).