The complex of unsaturated fatty acids eikonol optimizes human cognitive activity

The effects of eikonol, a preparation containing polyunsaturated fatty acids omega-6/omega-3 in a ratio close to the optimal for humans, were tested in a psychophysiological study involving 42 subjects. A dietary vegetable oil served as control. In the sensorimotor testing of the operational, type, the subjects were supposed to memorize three reference two-digit numbers during a short time so as to decide on presentation of the test number whether the latter was present among the reference numbers. The subject was presented 480 test samples with randomly selected numbers before and after the intake of eikonol. The course of eikonol for 30 days exerted a statistically significant positive effect on all the subjects. Individual features in the subjects’, response to eikonol were noted, i.e., in about 50% of them, the effect of eikonol was manifested by only a decreased number of wrong answers, whereas, in the rest of subjects, this effect was observed simultaneously with an increased number of right answers. As compared with the effects of the oil, the positive effect of eikonol on the parameters of operational activity of humans appeared to be much more pronounced and affected twice as many subjects tested. Possible prospects of the use of eikonol for optimization of cognitive processes in humans with an individual selection of the dosage and regimen are discussed.     

Impact of maternal dietary n-3 and n-6 fatty acids on milk medium-chain fatty acids and the implications for neonatal liver metabolism

Levels of n-6, n-3, and medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) in milk are highly variable. Higher carbohydrate intakes are associated with increased mammary gland MCFA synthesis, but the role of unsaturated fatty acids for milk MCFA secretion is unclear. This study addressed whether n-6 and n-3 fatty acids, which are known to inhibit hepatic fatty acid synthesis, influence MCFA in rat and human milk and the implications of varying MCFA, n-6, and n-3 fatty acids in rat milk for metabolic regulation in the neonatal liver. Rats were fed a low-fat diet or one of six higher-fat diets, varying in 16:0, 18:1n-9, 18:2n-6, 18:3n-3, and long-chain (LC) n-3 fatty acids. Higher maternal dietary 18:2n-6 or 18:3n-3 did not influence milk MCFA, but lower maternal plasma triglycerides, due to either a low-fat or a high-fat high-LC n-3 diet led to higher milk MCFA. MCFA levels were inversely associated with 18:1n-9, 18:2n-6, and 18:3n-3 in human milk, likely reflecting the association between dietary total fat and unsaturated fatty acids. High LC n-3 fatty acid in rat milk was associated with lower hepatic Pklr, Acly, Fasn, and Scd1 and higher Hmgcs2 in the milk-fed rat neonate, with no effect of milk 18:1n-9, 18:2n-6, or MCFA. These studies show that the dietary fatty acid composition does not impact MCFA secretion in milk, but the fatty acid composition of milk, particularly the LC n-3 fatty acid, is relevant to hepatic metabolic regulation in the milk-fed neonate.     

Effects of dietary omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids on levels of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in erythrocytes]

C18:2 omega 6/C18:3 omega 3 ratio was lowered in the diet of Elderly subjects. This was done by the replacement of usual sunflower oil by rapeseed oil or by supplementing soybean oil. This diet modification induced an increase of EPA (C20:5 omega 3) and DHA (C22:6 omega 3) in red cell phospholipids. The omega 6 fatty acids (C18:2 and C20:4) were slightly modified. Therefore, dietary C18:2 omega 6/C18:3 omega 3 ratio, seems to play an important role in the determination of membrane highly unsaturated fatty acid levels.     

Activity of human Delta5 and Delta6 desaturases on multiple n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Yeast co-expressing human elongase and desaturase genes were used to investigate whether the same desaturase gene encodes an enzyme able to desaturate n-3 and n-6 fatty acids with the same or different carbon chain length. The results clearly demonstrated that a single human Delta5 desaturase is active on 20:3n-6 and 20:4n-3. Endogenous Delta6 desaturase substrates were generated by providing to the yeast radiolabelled 20:4n-6 or 20:5n-3 which, through two sequential elongations, produced 24:4n-6 and 24:5n-3, respectively. Overall, our data suggest that a single human Delta6 desaturase is active on 18:2n-6, 18:3n-3, 24:4n-6 and 24:5n-3.     

Nutritional status and intermediate chain-length fatty acids influence the conservation of essential fatty acids in the milk of northern Nigerian women

The milk of 89 women in northern Nigeria was analyzed for the fatty acid composition of the total milk lipids, and assessed for the effect nutritional status has on the conservation of essential and non-essential fatty acids when the proportions of C(10)-C(14)fatty acids are increased. The women were stratified on the basis of their body mass index, and calculations were made to estimate the effects of a 3.3-fold increase in the proportion of C(10)-C(14)fatty acids on the proportion of alpha-linolenic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, linoleic acid and arachidonic in total milk lipids. In the well-nourished group (group III, body mass index >23 kg/m(2)), the critical n-3 and n-6 fatty acids were not conserved, while in poorly nourished women (group I, body mass index <19 kg/m(2)), marked conservation of alpha-linolenic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, arachidonic acid, and palmitic acid was seen. Poor nutritional status of the mother appears to promote selective retention of critical essential and non-essential fatty acids in the milk lipid fraction.     

Saturated fatty acids, but not unsaturated fatty acids, induce the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 mediated through Toll-like receptor 4

Results from our previous studies demonstrated that activation of Toll-like receptor 4 (Tlr4), the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) receptor, is sufficient to induce nuclear factor kappaB activation and expression of inducible cyclooxygenase (COX-2) in macrophages. Saturated fatty acids (SFAs) acylated in lipid A moiety of LPS are essential for biological activities of LPS. Thus, we determined whether these fatty acids modulate LPS-induced signaling pathways and COX-2 expression in monocyte/macrophage cells (RAW 264.7). Results show that SFAs, but not unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs), induce nuclear factor kappaB activation and expression of COX-2 and other inflammatory markers. This induction is inhibited by a dominant-negative Tlr4. UFAs inhibit COX-2 expression induced by SFAs, constitutively active Tlr4, or LPS. However, UFAs fail to inhibit COX-2 expression induced by activation of signaling components downstream of Tlr4. Together, these results suggest that both SFA-induced COX-2 expression and its inhibition by UFAs are mediated through a common signaling pathway derived from Tlr4. These results represent a novel mechanism by which fatty acids modulate signaling pathways and target gene expression. Furthermore, these results suggest a possibility that propensity of monocyte/macrophage activation is modulated through Tlr4 by different types of free fatty acids, which in turn can be altered by kinds of dietary fat consumed.     

The effect of bio-converted polyunsaturated fatty acids on the oxidation of TAG containing highly unsaturated fatty acids

Microbial modification of vegetable fatty acids can often lead to special changes in their structure and in biological function. A bacterial strain, Pseudomonas aeruginosa PR3, is known to carry out multiple hydroxylations on polyunsaturated fatty acids containing 1,4-cis, cis diene structural units, resulting in antibacterial activity. In this paper, in an effort to understand the overall mechanism involved in the varied biological functions of the complicated metabolites of bio-converted polyunsaturated fatty acids, we performed bioconversion of several polyunsaturated fatty acids using PR3, and determined their oxidative activities against fish oil. Bio-converted linoleic acid, eicosapentanoic acid, and docosahexanoic acid promoted effectively oxidation of fish oil. It is assumed that this oxidative effect could plausibly play an important role in the antimicrobial function of these bio-converted fatty acids.