*Corresponding author e-mail: kmgouveia@ufrnet.br Introduction: Determinative factors for the development of the nervous system, particularly during the gestation and lactation periods, promote significant changes in neuronal phenomena and affect its functioning. Animals submitted to deficient essential polyunsatured fatty acids (PUFA) diet show morphological and neurochemical alterations in cerebral regions involved with cognition and memory. In this study, we analyze whether the chronic deficiency of PUFA, as the acid linoleic (or omega-6) and the acid α-linolenic (or omega-3) influence the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in the thalamic intergeniculate leaflet (IGL) of Wistar rats. The IGL is a known circadian center involved in the modulation of the suprachiasmatic nucleus, considered to be the main circadian pacemaker in mammals. Methods: A group of animals was submitted to a poor omega-3 and omega-6 diet (experimental group) since the gestation and lactation until the adult phase and another group to a normal diet (control group). After this period the rats were perfused transcardially using 4% paraformaldehyde in a 0.1 M phosphate buffer. The brains were removed, frozen on dry ice and then cut in coronal sections with thickness of 30 pm, being submitted to the immunohistochemical reaction for GFAP. Results: The results showed that, in the animals submitted to the lack of essential fatty acids, the corresponding region to the IGL evidenced astrocytes presenting immunoreactive reduction of the expression of GFAP in relation to the control animals. The quantification of the GFAP-immunoreactivity was carried out by measuring of the optic density and the percentage of pixels in binarized images of the region in study for posterior statistic analysis of the data. Conclusion: These results suggest that the expression of the GFAP in the IGL can be influenced by neurochemical processes involving PUFA in some phase of the animal, especially during the development and maintenance of the neuronal phenomena in determinative phases for neurogenesis and gliogenesis, differentiation and maintenance of the neural tissue. Support: CNPq, CAPES, FINEP, FAPEAL-AL, PROPESQ- UFRN. Publication History Article published online: 16 June 2026 © 2009. Brazilian Sleep Academy. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda. Rua Rego Freitas, 175, loja 1, República, São Paulo, SP, CEP 01220-010, Brazil
Gouveia et al. (2009) studied this question.