04.01.13
A team of academic researchers has pinpointed how vitamin D3 and omega 3 fatty acids may enhance the immune system’s ability to clear the brain of amyloid plaques, one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. In a pilot study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, scientists identified key genes and signaling networks regulated by vitamin D3 and the omega 3 fatty acid DHA that may help control inflammation and improve plaque clearance.
For the study, scientists drew blood samples from both Alzheimer’s patients and healthy controls, and then isolated critical immune cells called macrophages from the blood. Macrophages are responsible for gobbling up amyloid-beta and other waste products in the brain and body. The team then incubated the immune cells overnight with amyloid-beta. They added either an active form of vitamin D3 called 1alpha,25–dihydroxyvitamin D3 or an active form of DHA called resolvin D1 to some of the cells to gauge the effect they had on inflammation and amyloid-beta absorption.
Both 1alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and resolvin D1 improved the ability of the Alzheimer’s disease patients’ macrophages to gobble-up amyloid-beta, and they inhibited the cell death that is induced by amyloid-beta. Researchers observed that each nutrition molecule utilized different receptors and common signaling pathways. The next step is a larger study to help confirm the findings, as well as a clinical trial with omega 3 DHA, the researchers said.
For the study, scientists drew blood samples from both Alzheimer’s patients and healthy controls, and then isolated critical immune cells called macrophages from the blood. Macrophages are responsible for gobbling up amyloid-beta and other waste products in the brain and body. The team then incubated the immune cells overnight with amyloid-beta. They added either an active form of vitamin D3 called 1alpha,25–dihydroxyvitamin D3 or an active form of DHA called resolvin D1 to some of the cells to gauge the effect they had on inflammation and amyloid-beta absorption.
Both 1alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and resolvin D1 improved the ability of the Alzheimer’s disease patients’ macrophages to gobble-up amyloid-beta, and they inhibited the cell death that is induced by amyloid-beta. Researchers observed that each nutrition molecule utilized different receptors and common signaling pathways. The next step is a larger study to help confirm the findings, as well as a clinical trial with omega 3 DHA, the researchers said.
