Omega-3 fatty acids: their neuroprotective and regenerative potential in traumatic neurological injury

Abstract

There is substantial evidence that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have therapeutic potential in neurology and psychiatry. Spinal cord injury (SCI) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) have dramatic consequences, and no neuroprotective or neuroregenerative treatment is available. The pathogenetic mechanisms involved in SCI and TBI include excitotoxicity associated with increased glutamate, oxidative stress and neuroinflammation. Studies have shown that omega-3 PUFAs can induce significant neuroprotection in SCI. In rat hemisection and compression SCI, long-chain omega-3 PUFAs such as docosahexaenoic acid, administered within the first hour after injury, can reduce neuronal and glial cell death, limit oxidative stress and the inflammatory cascade triggered by the primary injury, and improve neurological function. Emerging observations in TBI support a similar neuroprotective potential. Omega-3 PUFAs also have neurotrophic properties. These findings support the idea that treatment with omega-3 PUFAs could represent a promising therapeutic approach in the management of neurotrauma, which would be easy to translate to the clinic, considering the well-documented safety and tolerability of these compounds in other indications.

Keywords:

• long-chain omega-3 fatty acid
• neuroprotection
• neuroregeneration
• spinal cord injury
• traumatic brain injury