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
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Neurology, Seoul Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. neuroahn@gmail.com
- 2Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
- 3Department of Neurology, Hanyang University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
- 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.
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