Positive Health Online

Abstract

LAYÉ and COLLEAGUES,   1 Institut National pour la Recherche Agronomique and Bordeaux University, Nutrition et Neurobiologie Intégrée, UMR 1286, Bordeaux, France (S.L., A.N., C.J.); and Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada (R.P.B.) sophie.laye@inra.fr ; 2 Institut National pour la Recherche Agronomique and Bordeaux University, Nutrition et Neurobiologie Intégrée, UMR 1286, Bordeaux, France (S.L., A.N., C.J.); and Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada (R.P.B.) discuss and study how n-3 PUFAs and their metabolites regulate microglia phenotype and function to exert their anti-inflammatory and proresolving activities in the brain.

Background

Classically, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were largely thought to be relatively inert structural components of brain, largely important for the formation of cellular membranes.

Methodology

Over the past 10 years, a host of bioactive lipid mediators that are enzymatically derived from arachidonic acid, the main n-6 PUFA, and docosahexaenoic acid, the main n-3 PUFA in the brain, known to regulate peripheral immune function, have been detected in the brain and shown to regulate microglia activation.

Results

Recent advances have focused on how PUFA regulate the molecular signalling of microglia, especially in the context of neuroinflammation and behaviour. Several active drugs regulate brain lipid signalling and provide proof of concept for targeting the brain. Because brain lipid metabolism relies on a complex integration of diet, peripheral metabolism, including the liver and blood, which supply the brain with PUFAs that can be altered by genetics, sex, and aging, there are many pathways that can be disrupted, leading to altered brain lipid homeostasis. Brain lipid signalling pathways are altered in neurologic disorders and may be viable targets for the development of novel therapeutics.

Conclusion

In this study, we discuss in particular how n-3 PUFAs and their metabolites regulate microglia phenotype and function to exert their anti-inflammatory and proresolving activities in the brain.

References

Sophie Layé  1 , Agnès Nadjar  2 , Corinne Joffre  2 , Richard P Bazinet  2.  Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acids in the Brain: Physiological Mechanisms and Relevance to Pharmacology. Pharmacol Rev;70(1):12-38. doi: 10.1124/pr.117.014092.  Jan 2018.