Summary: According to a new study, omega 3 polyunsaturates fatty acids can improve the function of the glymphatic system.
Source: FASEB.
Research in The FASEB Journal suggests that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids could improve the function of the glymphatic system and promote clearance of amyloid-β peptides from the brain.
New research published online in The FASEB Journal suggests that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are found in fish oil, could improve the function of the glymphatic system, which facilitates the clearance of waste from the brain, and promote the clearance of metabolites including amyloid-β peptides, a primary culprit in Alzheimer’s disease.
To make this discovery, scientists first used transgenic fat-1 mice, which express high endogenous omega-3
polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in the brain, to investigate the effect of omega-3 PUFAs on the clearance function of the glymphatic system. Compared to the wild-type mice, the fat-1 mice with enriched endogenous omega-3 PUFAs significantly promote the clearance function of the lymphatic system, including the Aβ clearance from the brain. Wild-type mice were supplemented with fish oil, which contains high concentrations of omega-3 PUFAs, and found that fish oil-supplemented mice also improved the clearance function of the glymphatic system compared to the control mice without fish oil supplementation. Omega-3 PUFAs help maintain the brain homeostasis, which may provide benefits in a number of neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injury, and sleep impairment, among others.
“These now-famous fatty acids have been the subject of major studies both in academia and industry. Just when we thought we had heard everything, here is something new, and it is provocative indeed,” said Thoru Pederson, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. “This study should not turn attention away from the roles of these substances in maintaining vascular health, but neither should they restrict our view. The brain is an extremely vascularized organ, while we might also bear in mind that omega-3 fatty acids may impact neurons, glia, and astrocytes themselves.”
Funding: Macau Science and Technology Development Fund, University of Macau funded the research.
Source: Cody Mooneyhan – FASEB
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.
Original Research: Abstract for “Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids promote amyloid-β clearance from the brain through mediating the function of the glymphatic system” by Huixia Ren, Chuanming Luo, Yanqing Feng, Xiaoli Yao, Zhe Shi, Fengyin Liang, Jing X. Kang, Jian-Bo Wan, Zhong Pei and Huanxing Su in FASEB Journal. Published online October 7 2016 doi:10.1096/fj.201600896
[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]FASEB “Additional Benefit of Omega-3 Fatty Acids for the Clearance of Metabolites From the Brain.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 26 October 2016.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/omega-3-metabolite-clearing-5364/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]FASEB (2016, October 26). Additional Benefit of Omega-3 Fatty Acids for the Clearance of Metabolites From the Brain. NeuroscienceNew. Retrieved October 26, 2016 from https://neurosciencenews.com/omega-3-metabolite-clearing-5364/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]FASEB “Additional Benefit of Omega-3 Fatty Acids for the Clearance of Metabolites From the Brain.” https://neurosciencenews.com/omega-3-metabolite-clearing-5364/ (accessed October 26, 2016).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]
Abstract
Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids promote amyloid-β clearance from the brain through mediating the function of the glymphatic system
Impairment of amyloid-β (Aβ) clearance leads to Aβ accumulation in the brain during the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Strategies that can restore or improve the clearance function hold great promise in delaying or preventing the onset of AD. Here, we show that n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), by use of fat-1 transgenic mice and oral administration of fish oil, significantly promote interstitial Aβ clearance from the brain and resist Aβ injury. Such beneficial effects were abolished in Aqp4 knockout mice, suggesting that the AQP4-dependent glymphatic system is actively involved in the promoting the effects of n-3 PUFAs on the clearance of extracellular Aβ. Imaging on clarified brain tissues clearly displayed that n-3 PUFAs markedly inhibit the activation of astrocytes and protect the AQP4 polarization in the affected brain region after Aβ injection. The results of the present study prove a novel mechanism by which n-3 PUFAs exert protective roles in reducing Aβ accumulation via mediating the glymphatic system function.—Ren, H., Luo, C., Feng, Y., Yao, X., Shi, Z., Liang, F., Kang, J. X., Wan, J.-B., Pei, Z., Su, H. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids promote amyloid-β clearance from the brain through mediating the function of the glymphatic system.
“Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids promote amyloid-β clearance from the brain through mediating the function of the glymphatic system” by Huixia Ren, Chuanming Luo, Yanqing Feng, Xiaoli Yao, Zhe Shi, Fengyin Liang, Jing X. Kang, Jian-Bo Wan, Zhong Pei and Huanxing Su in FASEB Journal. Published online October 7 2016 doi:10.1096/fj.201600896
