Astaxanthin limits fish oil-related oxidative insult in the anterior forebrain of Wistar rats: Putative anxiolytic effects?

► Fish oil has shown cognitive/mental benefits, but coadjutant antioxidants are apparently necessary based on a hormesis principle. ► Anxiety behavior has been related to highly oxidative-sensitive regions in mammal brains. ► Fish oil augmented oxidative injuries in the anterior forebrain of rats but apparently showed anxiolytic effects. ► Salmonid carotenoid astaxanthin increased antioxidant capacity in plasma and inhibited oxidative injury in rat brains. ► It is still unclear if astaxanthin exerts its antioxidant effects in situ or indirectly by preserving reduced glutathione in plasma.