Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) improves
inflammation-related cognitive deficit

Newsletter # 97


In vivo studies


■ Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is quantitatively the most important omega-3 essential fatty acid in the brain. Its anti-inflammatory property is widely known, and DHA supplementation has been associated with improved clinical outcomes in patients with chronic inflammation 1. Moreover, findings from clinical and observational studies suggest that omega-3 fatty acids supplementation, including DHA, could result in some cognitive benefits (reviewed in 2).

■ Neurofit’s preclinical data using inflammation-based cognitive deficit model shows that 7 days treatment with DHA reinstate the cognitive performance of mice. This further supports the potential benefit of DHA supplementation in inflammatory brain diseases. Noteworthy that a single acute administration of DHA fails to produce any beneficial effect which may suggest that either a sufficient exposure is needed or the involved mechanism of action of DHA takes some time to establish.

1: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2020.11.018
2: https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2018.1425978




  • ***, p ≤ 0.001 significantly different as compared to LPS / Vehicle group
    (n = 10 mice per group).
  • The graph shows a marked reduction in the level of spontaneous alternation of LPS-mice (black column) during the T-maze task as compared to that of control mice (blue column). The decrease in the alternation reflects stereotypic and repetitive behavior, common symptoms in dementia patients 3.

    ■ The treatment of LPS-mice with chronic but not acute DHA (green column) significantly increases the alternation performance of LPS-mice.

    3: https://doi.org/10.1177/1533317513481094







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