RESEARCH ARTICLE


Omega-3 Hastens and Omega-6 Delays the Progression of Neuropathology in a Murine Model of Familial ALS



Edward F. Boumil1, #, Rishel Brenna Vohnoutka1, #, Yuguan Liu2, Sangmook Lee2, Thomas B Shea1, *
1 Laboratory for Neuroscience, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA
2 Department of Biomedical and Nutritional Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA


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Creative Commons License
© 2017 Boumil et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Laboratory for Neuroscience, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA, 01854, USA, Tel: 978-934-2881; Fax: 978-934-3044; E-mail: thomas_shea@uml.edu

# These authors contributed equally to this research.


Abstract

Background:

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive disease of motor neurons that has no cure or effective treatment. Any approach that could sustain minor motor function during terminal stages would improve quality of life.

Objective:

We examined the impact of omega-3 (Ω-3) and Ω-6, on motor neuron function in mice expressing mutant human superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD-1), which dominantly confers familial ALS and induces a similar sequence of motor neuron decline and eventual death when expressed in mice.

Method:

Mice received standard diets supplemented with equivalent amounts of Ω-3 and Ω-6 or a 10x increase in Ω-6 with no change in Ω-3 commencing at 4 weeks of age. Motor function and biochemical/histological parameters were assayed by standard methodologies.

Results:

Supplementation with equivalent Ω-3 and Ω-6 hastened motor neuron pathology and death, while 10x Ω-6 with no change in Ω-3 significantly delayed motor neuron pathology, including preservation of minor motor neuron function during the terminal stage.

Conclusion:

In the absence of a cure or treatment, affected individuals may resort to popular nutritional supplements such as Ω-3 as a form of “self-medication”. However, our findings and those of other laboratories indicate that such an approach could be harmful. Our findings suggest that a critical balance of Ω-6 and Ω-3 may temporarily preserve motor neuron function during the terminal stages of ALS, which could provide a substantial improvement in quality of life for affected individuals and their caregivers.

Keywords: Omega-3, Omega-6, Neuropathology, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Motor neuron, Inflammation.