Omega fatty acids for cognetive function during Ageing
1. Introduction
After the last hundred years of medical and life science technology progress and advances, people now live longer than ever before. Currently both preventive and therapeutic approaches are failing to reduce non-communicable diseases (NCDs), but they have succeeded in increasing our life-expectancy. Consequently, although human lifespan has significantly increased, our healthspan has not kept up the pace [1].
Demographically, society is getting older and the aging process includes progressive and irreversible biological changes, resulting in a growing risk of suffering from chronic diseases, cognitive impairments, physical disfunctions, and an increased probability of dying [1]. In fact, the loss of cognitive function is considered the most critical change during aging and it is projected that the patients with dementia—considered as significant loss of cognitive function which should be distinguished from neurodevelopmental disorders, such as intellectual disability [2]—will reach up to 115.4 million in 2050 [3].
The aging process is conditioned by the interactions between our genetic inheritance and environmental influences. While aging, our cells are submitted to a wide range of intrinsic and extrinsic insults, including oncogenic activation, oxidative and genotoxic stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, irradiation, and mutagenic agents [4]. In response to these disturbances, a stable state of cell cycle arrest happens and the cellular ability to proliferate decreases entering into a phase of senescence [4].
Senescent cells undergo morphology changes, chromatin remodelling, metabolic reprogramming and secrete a complex mix of mostly proinflammatory factors, like IL-1 and TNF-α. As senescent cells are more abundant, it leads to a potentially chronic inflammatory state independent from the activation of immune cells, which may impair tissue homeostasis [5]. This phenomenon of chronic low-grade systemic inflammation is called “inflammaging” and is considered to play a central role in the pace of aging, in the impairment of cognitive and physical functions and lastly, in the development of age-related disease.
In addition, many intrinsic and environmental factors generate oxidative stress which is a common phenomenon caused by an imbalance between production and detoxification of free radicals. Free radicals, mainly reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS), can damage cells and tissues leading to the activation of proinflammatory pathways which contribute to the above mentioned “inflammaging” [6] leading to a higher degree of cellular senescence.
To improve the healthspan and the quality of life in the elderly, it is crucial to consider the role of preventive health interventions. Preventing disease, not only has positive health and well-being outcomes, which is the most important impact, but also wider economic significance, since the healthcare system is not prepared to handle the pressure of an aged society. Consequently, the goal of the scientific community is to find non-pharmacological therapies to prevent the most common age-related disfunctions and especially, those related with the loss of cognitive function, thus extending the well-being and optimal health of aging people for the longest possible time [7].
Following this approach, two powerful and recent strategies, functional foods and exercise, have been shown to decrease the risk of aging-related diseases. As nutrition is closely linked with health status, there is a growing demand for appropriate dietary patterns that include food supplements and functional foods to address healthy aging. Bioactive compounds with proven anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects are suitable as anti-aging ingredients, but few of them like vitamin E, vitamin B12 and B6 or tea polyphenols have shown consistently improved cognitive effects [8,9,10,11].
Among nutrients assessed for brain health, the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFAs) must be highlighted, specifically the ω-3 LCPUFAs: DHA and EPA. Increased intake of ω-3 LCPUFAs, which are mainly found in fish and other seafood, have been associated with better cognitive function, slower rates of cognitive decline and an overall lower risk of developing dementia [12,13]. Furthermore, DHA and EPA are promising bioactive ingredients in the treatment of more severe neurological age-related disease like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease [14,15]. However, some clinical studies with healthy subjects have failed to prove a direct effect between cognitive function improvement and ω-3 LCPUFAs supplementation during aging [15].
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