BACKGROUND Omega3 fatty acids may inhibit neuronal signal transduction pathways in a manner similar to that of lithium carbonate and valproate, 2 effective treatments for bipolar disorder. The present study was performed to examine whether omega3 fatty acids also exhibit mood-stabilizing properties in bipolar disorder. METHODS A 4-month, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, comparing omega...

background: to assess the effect of supplementation with vitamins a, e and c and ω-3 fatty acids on lipid peroxidation in strepto zotocin (stz) induced diabetic rats. methods: sixty four male wistar rats weighting 250g were divided into four groups as normal control, diabetic control, dia betic with vitamin a, e as well as c supplementation and diabetic with ω-3 fatty acids supplementation. aft...

AIM To investigate whether low docosahexaenoic acid (22:6omega3; DHA) status of malnourished, mostly breast fed infants is a result of low omega3 fatty acid intake via breast milk. METHODS Fatty acid composition of breast milk of eight Pakistani mothers, and of the erythrocytes of their malnourished children was analysed. RESULTS The milk of the Pakistani mothers contained low percentages o...

Long-chain n-3 PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids) such as EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid; 20:5 n-3) have important therapeutic and nutritional benefits in humans. In plants, cyanobacteria and nematodes, omega3-desaturases catalyse the formation of these n-3 fatty acids from n-6 fatty acid precursors. Here we describe the isolation and characterization of a gene ( sdd17 ) derived from an EPA-rich f...

There is now evidence that major depression is accompanied by decreased levels of omega3 poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). There is a strong comorbidity between major depression and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The present study has been carried out in order to examine PUFA levels in CFS. In twenty-two CFS patients and 12...

BACKGROUND Fish oil reduces sudden death in patients with prior myocardial infarction. Sudden death in heart failure may be due to triggered activity based on disturbed calcium handling. We hypothesized that superfusion with omega3-polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega3-PUFAs) from fish inhibits triggered activity in heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS Ventricular myocytes were isolated from expl...

Epidemiological and animal-based investigations have indicated that the development of skin cancer is in part associated with poor dietary practices. Lipid content and subsequently the derived fatty acid composition of the diet are believed to play a major role in the development of tumorigenesis. Omega 3 (omega3) fatty acids, including docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW This review details the independent effects of purified eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid on cardiovascular risk factors in humans. We report data from the recent literature and our own controlled clinical trials which compared the independent effects of these fatty acids in individuals at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, namely overweight hyperlipidaemic...

BACKGROUND The sum of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5 omega3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6 omega3) in erythrocyte membranes, termed the omega-3 index, can indicate suboptimal intake of omega-3 fatty acids, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). To study the effects of fatty acid supplementation, we investigated the rate of incorporation and clearance of these fatty acids in ery...

We collected suspended particulate matter (seston) and zooplankton samples from Lake Washington in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A., over a 10-month period to investigate the effects of food availability on zooplankton fatty acid (FA) composition. The percentage of nutritionally critical omega3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the seston varied from 8% of the FA pool in midsummer to 30% during ...