Mouse Study Shows Hope for Fish Oil and Parkinson Disease

by | Nov 7, 2008 | Brain Health, Fish Oil Supplements, Parkinson's

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. In a mouse study, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids showed no damage compared to an 80% reduction in a marker for neurological health in the control group.

Parkinson Disease is a progressive, degenerative nerve disorder characterized by the loss of nerves in the part of the brain called the substantia nigra that lead to a loss of a brain chemical called dopamine. Patients with Parkinson’s have resting tremor as well as problems with movement, balance, and coordination. Parkinson’s is diagnosed when levels of nerves in the substantia nigra drop by 60-70% and levels of dopamine decrease by 80% in the brain (1).

Now a new study in mice (2) has found that fish oil may be able to maintain brain health in regards to Parkinson’s.

Research has shown that low intakes of omega-3 fatty acids increase the risk of Alzheimer Disease (3,4,5). Building on these findings, researchers fed mice a diet that consisted of 7.75 grams of omega-3 fatty acids per kilogram of bodyweight and an omega-6:omega-3 fatty acid ratio of 1:1 or a diet consisting of 0.36 grams of omega-3 fatty acids and an omega-6:omega-3 fatty acid ratio of 101:1 (control group) for 10 months. They then injected the mice with a nerve toxin called MPTP that is known to mimic symptoms of Parkinson’s because it attacks nerves in the substantia nigra (6,7).

In the healthy part of the brain (that not affected by the MPTP injection), omega-3 fatty acid levels increased by 31% and decreased the omega-6:omega-3 ratio by 48%. In the substantia nigra (that affected by the MPTP injection), the MPTP injection decreased both dopamine and nerve cell levels by 80% and 34%, respectively, in the control group. No significant changes were seen in either dopamine levels or nerve cell levels in the omega-3 fatty acid group, thanks to the “significant [nerve] protection” properties of omega-3 fatty acids.

For the researchers, “these data suggest that a high n-3 PUFA dietary intake exerts [nerve-protecting] actions in an animal model of [Parkinson Disease].”

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Danville, CA.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at mailto:PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.CompleteChiropracticHealthcare.com

Source: Bousquet, M., M. Saint-Pierre, C. Julien, N. Salem, F. Cicchetti, and F. Calon. “Beneficial effects of dietary omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid on toxin-induced neuronal degeneration in an animal model of Parkinson’s disease.” The FASEB Journal 22, no. 4 (2008): 1213-1225.

© 2017 by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology

Posted November 7, 2008.

References:

  1. Lang, A. E., and Lozano, A. M. (1998) Parkinson’s disease. First of two parts. N. Engl. J. Med. 339, 1044–1053.
  2. Bousquet M.    Beneficial effects of dietary omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid on toxin-induced neuronal degeneration in an animal model of Parkinson’s disease.  FASEB Jou article fj.07-9677com. Published online November 21, 2007.
  3. Morris, M. C.(2003) Consumption of fish and n-3 fatty acids and risk of incident Alzheimer disease. Arch. Neurol. 60, 940–946.
  4. Maclean, C. H.(2005) Effects of omega-3 fatty acids on cognitive function with aging, dementia, and neurological diseases. Evid. Rep. Technol. Assess. (Summ.) 113, 1–4.
  5. Schaefer, E. J. (2006) Plasma phosphatidylcholine docosahexaenoic acid content and risk of dementia and Alzheimer disease: the Framingham Heart Study. Arch. Neurol. 63, 1545–1550.
  6. Langston, J. W. (1999) Evidence of active nerve cell degeneration in the substantia nigra of humans years after 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine exposure. Ann. Neurol. 46, 598–605.
  7. Przedborski, S., and Vila, M. (2003) The 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine mouse model: a tool to explore the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 991,189–198.