This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (8) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Pérez, J. Articles by Shir, Y. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Pérez, J. Articles by Shir, Y. Related Collections Economics and Health Care Research Pain

---

PAIN MEDICINE

Dietary Omega-3 Fatty Acids May Be Associated with Increased Neuropathic Pain in Nerve-Injured Rats

Jordi Pérez, MD^*, Mark A. Ware, MBBS, Stephanie Chevalier, PhD, Rejeanne Gougeon, PhD, and Yoram Shir, MD^*

*Anesthesia Research Unit and Pain Centre, Department of Anesthesia, Centre for Research on Pain and the Nutrition and Food Science Centre, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Yoram Shir, MD, MUHC Pain Centre, Montreal General Hospital, Room E19–133, 1650 Cedar Ave., Montreal, QC, H3G 1A4, Canada. Address e-mail to yoram.shir{at}muhc.mcgill.ca.

Certain dietary proteins and oils are capable of decreasing chronic neuropathic pain levels in rats after partial sciatic nerve ligation injury. We tested, for the first time, the role of dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids in suppressing pain in partial sciatic nerve ligation-injured rats. Six groups of male Wistar rats were fed an identical casein-based, fat-free diet for 1 wk preceding partial sciatic nerve ligation injury and for 1 wk thereafter. In addition, rats received, via gavage, 1 mL/day of pure canola, corn, hemp, soy, or sunflower oil, differing significantly in their -3 and -6 polyunsaturated fatty acid content, or 1 mL of plain water. Responses to tactile and noxious heat stimuli were recorded before and after surgery and a difference score was calculated for each group by subtracting the preoperative from the post-partial sciatic nerve ligation values. Heat hyperalgesia, but not tactile allodynia, was significantly different among the dietary groups (P = 0.005). Heat hyperalgesia of rats fed hemp oil, developing the most robust response, was significantly larger compared with rats fed corn oil, developing the least pain model (difference score: 24.3 ± 4.1 s versus 6.1 ± 3.1 s, respectively; P < 0.001). These oils contain similar levels of -6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (hemp, 60%; corn, 58%) but their -3 levels are 28-fold different (20% versus 0.7%, respectively). A significant correlation was found among dietary levels of -3, but not -6 or the -3/-6 ratio, of the six dietary groups and heat hyperalgesia (P = 0.006). We conclude that dietary oil might predict levels of neuropathic pain in rats and that this effect may be associated with dietary -3 levels.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Sandkuhler Models and Mechanisms of Hyperalgesia and Allodynia Physiol Rev, April 1, 2009; 89(2): 707 - 758. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. R. Heller, S. N. Stehr, and R. J. Litz Omega-3 alpha linolenic Acid does not reflect the entire omega-3 Fatty Acid family. Anesth. Analg., April 1, 2006; 102(4): 1289 - 1289. [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Chevalier, J. Perez, and Y. Shir Omega-3 Alpha Linolenic Acid Does Not Reflect the Entire Omega-3 Fatty Acid Family Anesth. Analg., April 1, 2006; 102(4): 1289 - 1290. [Full Text] [PDF]