Omega-3 Fatty Acids Demonstrates a Neuro-Protective Effect in Vivo

By Kyle J. Norton


The brain formed part of the central nervous system is the most complex organ made up of more than billions of nerve cells or neurons.

The functions of the brain are associated with the communication of trillions of connections called synapses in many specialized regions.

A neuron or nerve cell formed part of the central nervous system, made of a cell body (also called soma), dendrites and an axon, is a cell in the nervous system that carries electrical impulses.

Neurons are core components of the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves that play an essential role in the process and transmit information.

Neurological diseases are the medical conditions of brain disorder. Anything that involves the structural, biochemical or electrical abnormalities in the brain, spinal cord or other nerves, including brain damage are considered as neuro diseases.

The most common neurodegenerative diseases in the elderly are dementia. Depending on the brain regions that are damaged or dysfunction, dementia can be Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and Huntington's disease.

Genetic mutation inherited from parents such as the NOTCH3 gene is the most common autosomal dominant inherited cause of stroke and vascular dementia.

Poor lifestyle choices, such as smoking, overuse of alcohol, lack of physical activity and inadequate relief of chronic stress and poor diet with high in saturated and trans fat, red meat, processed foods and less in fruits and vegetable and whole-grain are some of the key contributors in the development and progression of chronic diseases, including neurological diseases.

Neuroprotection is a process to preserve the neuronal structure and/or function against the death or gradual death of neurons, including the use of medicines and herbs.

In other words, neuroprotection protects the neuronal integrity against the reduction in the rate of neuronal loss over time inducing neurological disease, including neurodegenerative disease.

Omega-3 fatty acids are phytochemicals in the class of lipids, found abundantly in deepsea fisk, dark-green leafy vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, etc.

The three main components of Omega-3 fatty acids are alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

On finding a potential phytochemical for the treatment of neuro-diseases, researchers examined the effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFAs) on alleviating microinfarct burdens and functional deficits.

According to the results of Fat-1 transgenic mice and fish oil supplements, ω-3 PUFAs showed strong protective activity against microinfarcts in a multiple diffuse microinfarcts model.

In other words, ω-3 PUFAs significantly attenuated cell apoptosis.

Furthermore, ω-3 PUFAs alleviated the diffuse microinfarct burdens and remarkably improved the functional deficits by reducing spontaneous anxiety, increased preference for the novel object and improved hippocampal-based learning and short-term memory.

Collectively, researchers said, " enriched brain ω-3 PUFAs are effective for reducing microinfarct burdens and improving the function deficits, which support the clinical research and application of ω-3 PUFAs in the treatment or prophylaxis in vascular dementia".

Taken altogether, Omega-3 fatty acids found abundantly in fish oil and plant oil may be considered a neuro-protective functional food, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of Omega-3 fatty acids in the form of supplements should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.


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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Enriched Brain Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Confer Neuroprotection against Microinfarction by Luo C1, Ren H2, Yao X3, Shi Z2, Liang F3, Kang JX4, Wan JB2, Pei Z3, Su KP5, Su H. (PubMed)
(2) Enriched Brain Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Confer Neuroprotection against Microinfarction by Luo C1, Ren H2, Yao X3, Shi Z2, Liang F3, Kang JX4, Wan JB2, Pei Z3, Su KP5, Su H. (PubMed)