Omega 3 and vitamin D3 help clear Alzheimer's plaques

Fish oil and vitamin D3 clear the plaques of Alzheimer's disease

Vitamin D3 and the omega-3 fatty acid DHA help the immune system clean up Alzheimer's plaques and reduce brain cell death.

The news was given by a group of scientists in a study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

The drama of Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia, is a neurodegenerative disease that occurs mostly after age 65. It currently afflicts more than 13 million people worldwide.

Deposits (called plaques) of beta amyloid, an abnormal protein, form in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, attacking central nervous system cells and triggering an inflammatory process. Brain cells then suffer irreversible damage and die, impairing brain function. Alzheimer's causes a decline in memory and intellectual function: as time passes, however, sufferers become less and less autonomous even in basic activities (eating, washing) and increasingly dependent on others.

The surprise of the new study

The new study showed that vitamin D3 (which is produced from sunlight and strengthens bones) and the omega-3 fatty acid DHA can help the immune system fight the disease. The researchers took blood samples from two groups of study participants: Alzheimer's patients and healthy controls. The scientists then isolated macrophages, immune cells capable of clearing amyloid beta and other wastes in the brain and body, from the blood samples.

Vitamin D3 or an active form of DHA fatty acid (called resolvin D1) was added to the macrophages, incubated overnight with amyloid beta, to observe the effects on inflammation and elimination of amyloid beta. It was found that both vitamin D3 and resolvin D1 improved the ability of macrophages to eliminate amyloid beta and inhibited cell death caused by the abnormal protein.

The differences on inflammation in the two groups

The researchers, however, observed 2 types of immune responses, thus distinguishing the sufferers into 2 groups. In the first one, which had greater inflammation, omega 3 and vitamin D3 produced a decrease in it.. In the second, the addition of vitamin D3 and resolvin D1, on the other hand, produced an increase in inflammation. According to the researchers, therefore, it is useful to identify an appropriate dosage for each sufferer, depending on the type of immune response.

Source: Mizwicki MT, Liu G, Fiala M, Magpantay L. et al. 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and resolvin D1 retune the balance between amyloid-β phagocytosis and inflammation in Alzheimer's disease patients. J Alzheimers Dis. 2013 Jan 1;34(1):155-70. doi: 10.3233/JAD-121735.