Effects of fish oil supplementation on spatial memory in rats with pilocarpine-induced epilepsy assessed using the Morris Water Maze test.

OBJECTIVE Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) are at high risk of experiencing cognitive impairment. Such dysfunction is also observed in an animal model of TLE, the rat model of pilocarpine-induced epilepsy. METHODS We investigated the effects of fish oil supplementation on spatial memory in rats with pilocarpine-induced epilepsy using the Morris Water Maze (MWM) test. RESULTS Although rats with pilocarpine-induced epilepsy treated with fish oil learned the platform location significantly faster by Day 7 of the acquisition phase, spatial memory performance of these rats was unaffected by fish oil supplementation during probe trials. SIGNIFICANCE Our study provides insights into the importance of considering nutraceutical strategies for enhancing cognitive abilities in patients with TLE.