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Electronic Letters to:
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- Neurobiology of Disease:
Qiu-Lan Ma, Fusheng Yang, Emily R. Rosario, Oliver J. Ubeda, Walter Beech, Dana J. Gant, Ping Ping Chen, Beverly Hudspeth, Cory Chen, Yongle Zhao, Harry V. Vinters, Sally A. Frautschy, and Greg M. Cole
- β-Amyloid Oligomers Induce Phosphorylation of Tau and Inactivation of Insulin Receptor Substrate via c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase Signaling: Suppression by Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Curcumin
J. Neurosci. 2009; 29: 9078-9089
[Abstract]
[Full text]
[PDF]
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Electronic letters published:
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No therapeutic effect of dietary omega-3 fatty acid and curcumin in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
- Cesare Mancuso, Eugenio Barone
(27 July 2009)
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No therapeutic effect of dietary omega-3 fatty acid and curcumin in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease |
27 July 2009 |
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Cesare Mancuso, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology Inst. of Pharmacology, Catholic University School of Medicine, largo F. Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy, Eugenio Barone
Send letter to journal:
Re: No therapeutic effect of dietary omega-3 fatty acid and curcumin in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
cmancuso{at}rm.unicatt.it Cesare Mancuso, et al.
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The therapeutic effects of fish oil, rich in omega-3 fatty acids
(FA), and curcumin in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) hypothesized
by several preclinical studies, was recently contradicted by clinical
evidence. The Rotterdam study, which involved ~6000 participants aged
greater than or equal to 55 and monitored over 10 years for mortality and major morbidity,
clearly demonstrated that omega-3 FA supplementation did not reduce the
risk of developing dementia and AD in the elderly. Specifically, individuals with a higher fish intake had a risk of developing dementia or AD similar to that of
those who usually did not eat fish (Devore et al., 2009). Parallel results were obtained by the Canadian Study of Health and Aging, in which the
association between erythrocyte membrane concentration of omega-3 FA and
the incidence of dementia and AD was evaluated in 650 patients aged
greater than or equal to 65 (Kröger et al., 2009). In this study, no evidence of a reduced
risk of dementia or AD among subjects with higher levels of plasma omega-3
FA was found over a follow-up period of about 5 years. Similar negative
results were obtained in AD patients treated with curcumin. In a
randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial, curcumin (1-4
g/day for 6 months) failed to improve cognitive performance in patients
suffering from mild-to-moderate AD and had no effect on pro-inflammatory
biomarkers like serum amyloid-beta-peptide and isoprostanes (Baum et al.,
2008). Based on these findings, the use of omega-3 FA and/or curcumin to
preserve cognitive function in the elderly seems not to have any scientific
basis.
References
Baum L et al. (2008) Six-month randomized, placebo-controlled,
double-blind, pilot clinical trial of curcumin in patients with Alzheimer
disease. J Clin Psychopharmacol 28:110-113.
Devore EE, Grodstein F, van Rooij FJ, Hofman A, Rosner B, Stampfer
MJ, Witteman JC, Breteler MM (2009) Dietary intake of fish and omega-3
fatty acids in relation to long-term dementia risk. Am J Clin Nutr 90:170-
176.
Kröger E, Verreault R, Carmichael PH, Lindsay J, Julien P, Dewailly
E, Ayotte P, Laurin D (2009) Omega-3 fatty acids and risk of dementia: the
Canadian Study of Health and Aging. Am J Clin Nutr 90:184-192. |
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