Food and Behaviour Research

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Homocysteine Status Modifies the Treatment Effect of Omega-3 Fatty Acids on Cognition in a Randomized Clinical Trial in Mild to Moderate Alzheimer's Disease: The OmegAD Study

Jernerén F, Cederholm T, Refsum H, Smith AD, Turner C, Palmblad J, Eriksdotter M, Hjorth E, Faxen-Irving G, Wahlund LO, Schultzberg M, Basun H, Freund-Levi Y (2019) J Alzheimers Dis.  2019;69(1): 189-197. doi: 10.3233/JAD-181148. 

Web URL: Read this and related abstracts on PubMed here

Abstract:

BACKGROUND:

Trials of supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids (ω3-FAs) in patients with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease (AD) have produced inconsistent effects on cognitive decline. There is evidence of an interaction between B vitamin status and ω3-FAs in relation to brain atrophy and cognitive decline.

OBJECTIVE:

We investigated whether baseline levels of plasma total homocysteine (tHcy), a marker of B vitamin status, modify the effects of ω3-FAs supplementation on cognitive performance in moderate AD.

METHODS:

This post hoc analysis of the OmegAD trial included 171 community-based patients with AD (MMSE≥15): 88 patients received daily doses of 1.7 g docosahexaenoic acid and 0.6 g eicosapentaenoic acid for 6 months. Treatment outcome on cognition was analyzed according to baseline levels of tHcy using a general linear model and ANCOVA.

RESULTS:

We found significant interactions between ω3-FA supplementation and tHcy on cognition and clinical stage assessed by MMSE (p = 0.040), global CDR (p = 0.059), and CDRsob (p = 0.023), but not on ADAS-cog (p = 0.649). In patients with tHcy levels <11.7μmol/L, ω3-FA supplementation improved cognitive performance as measured by MMSE (+7.1%, 95% CI: 0.59 to 13.7%, p = 0.033) and clinical status as measured by CDRsob (-22.3%, 95% CI: -5.8 to -38.7%, p = 0.009) compared with placebo.

CONCLUSION:

The effect of ω3-FA supplementation on MMSE and CDR appears to be influenced by baseline tHcy, suggesting that adequate B vitamin status is required to obtain beneficial effects of ω3-FA on cognition.

FAB RESEARCH COMMENT:

See the following news article referencing this research, and the FAB comment there:


For details of the original OmegAD trial, data from which were re-analysed for this study, see:


For details of the previous Vitacog trial, showing that the beneficial effect of B vitamins on both brain atrophy and cognitive decline depends on omega-3 status, see also:

And see also this article by a researcher in this field on the difficulties of obtaining funding for studies in this area