Korean J Clin Neurophysiol.  2015 Dec;17(2):68-72. 10.14253/kjcn.2015.17.2.68.

The Effect of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation on Cerebral Blood Flow and Vascular Resistance: A Preliminary Study

• Heo JH
• Won HY
• Im DG
• Kim JH
• Kim HT
• Ahn JY

• KMID: 2403241
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.14253/kjcn.2015.17.2.68

Abstract

BACKGROUND
The effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) on cerebral vessels have not been clarified until now. Thus we investigated the efficacy of omega-3 PUFAs supplementation on cerebral blood flow velocity and vascular resistance via transcranial doppler (TCD).
METHODS
Consecutive twenty patients (13 male and 7 female) with at least 1 cerebrovascular risk factor or a known cerebrovascular disease were enrolled. Patients were treated with omega-3 PUFAs (1 g, two times per day) for 12 weeks. Cerebral blood flow velocity, resistance index, and pulsatile index were checked before and after 12 weeks of treatment using TCD.
RESULTS
The change of resistance index in right MCA (from 0.58 +/- 0.07 to 0.55 +/- 0.07, p = 0.042) and left PCA (from 0.56 +/- 0.07 to 0.53 +/- 0.06, p = 0.037) showed significant improvement after 12 weeks of omega-3 PUFAs treatment. The changes in other vessels, however, failed to show any significant changes compared to the baseline.
CONCLUSIONS
Omega-3 PUFAs treatment showed feasible efficacies for cerebral vascular resistances in this open label trial. To confirm these results, larger samples of patients and longer period of follow-up is warranted.

Keyword

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids; Vascular resistance; Transcranial doppler

MeSH Terms

Blood Flow Velocity
Fatty Acids, Unsaturated
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Male
Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis
Risk Factors
Vascular Resistance*
Fatty Acids, Unsaturated

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