[native-nutrition] DHA is ANTI-oxidative in the brain!
- Subject: DHA is ANTI-oxidative in the brain!
- From: Chris Masterjohn <chrismasterjohn@...>
- Date: Mon, 30 May 2005 16:55:24 -0400
- Yahoo! Message Number: 69106
- Onibasu Link: http://onibasu.com/archives/nn/69106.html
Take note of the second to last sentence in this abstract.
Chris
1: J Nutr. 2005 Mar;135(3):549-55. Related Articles, Links
Chronic administration of docosahexaenoic acid ameliorates the
impairment of spatial cognition learning ability in amyloid
beta-infused rats.
Hashimoto M, Tanabe Y, Fujii Y, Kikuta T, Shibata H, Shido O.
Department of Environmental Physiology, Shimane University Faculty of
Medicine, Izumo 693-8501, Japan. michio1@...
We investigated whether administration of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA),
a major (n-3) fatty acid of the brain, ameliorates the impairment of
learning ability in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease (AD), rats
infused with amyloid-beta (Abeta) peptide (1-40) into the cerebral
ventricle. Inbred 3rd generation male rats (20 wk old) fed a fish
oil-deficient diet were randomly divided into 4 groups: a vehicle
group, an Abeta peptide-infused group (Abeta group), a DHA group, and
an Abeta + DHA group. A mini-osmotic pump filled with Abeta peptide or
vehicle was implanted in the rats, and they were tested for learning
ability-related reference and working memory in an 8-arm radial maze.
The rats were then orally fed DHA dissolved in 5% gum Arabic solution
at 300 mg/(kg . d) (DHA and Abeta + DHA groups) or vehicle alone
(vehicle and Abeta groups) and tested again for learning ability. DHA
administered for 12 wk significantly reduced the increase in the
number of reference and working memory errors in the Abeta-infused
rats, and increased both the cortico-hippocampal level of DHA and the
molar ratio of DHA/arachidonic acid, suggesting an amelioration of the
impaired spatial cognition learning ability. Furthermore, DHA
suppressed the increases in the levels of lipid peroxide and reactive
oxygen species in the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus of
Abeta-infused rats, suggesting that DHA increases antioxidative
defenses. DHA is thus a possible therapeutic agent for ameliorating
learning deficiencies due to Alzheimer's disease.
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