- Title
- Effects of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on endothelial vasodilator function and cognition-are they interrelated?
- Creator
- Kuszewski, Julia C.; Wong, Rachel H. X.; Howe, Peter R. C.
- Relation
- Nutrients Vol. 9, Issue 5
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu9050487
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2017
- Description
- Long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCn-3 PUFA) may improve brain functions by acting on endothelial cells in the cerebrovasculature to facilitate vasodilatation and perfusion. The aim of this review is to explore this hypothesis by analyzing the effect of LCn-3 PUFA supplementation on systemic vasodilator and cognitive function and finding evidence to link LCn-3 PUFA intake, vasodilator function and cognition. Forty randomized controlled trials examining the effect of LCn-3 PUFA supplementation in humans on either endothelial vasodilator function or cognition were identified and pooled effects measured with a weighted analysis. Compared to placebo, LCn-3 PUFA tended to increase flow-mediated dilatation and significantly improved cognitive function. Emerging evidence links vasodilator dysfunction to cognitive impairment, but evidence that LCn-3 PUFA can improve cognition through enhancements of vasodilator function is still lacking. Further research is needed to determine: (1) whether LCn-3 PUFA can enhance dilatation of cerebral vessels; (2) if improvements in cerebrovascular responsiveness by LCn-3 PUFA are accompanied by cognitive benefits; and (3) the target population groups
- Subject
- long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids; endothelial vasodilator function; cerebral perfusion; cognitive function; cerebrovascular function; flow-mediated dilatation
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1350001
- Identifier
- uon:30472
- Identifier
- ISSN:2072-6643
- Rights
- This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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