title: Dietary arachidonic acid as a risk factor for age-associated neurodegenerative diseases: Potential mechanisms.
abstract: Alzheimer's disease and associated diseases constitute a major public health concern worldwide. Nutrition-based, preventive strategies could possibly be effective in delaying the occurrence of these diseases and lower their prevalence. Arachidonic acid is the second major polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and several studies support its involvement in Alzheimer's disease. The objective of this review is to examine how dietary arachidonic acid contributes to Alzheimer's disease mechanisms and therefore to its prevention. First, we explore the sources of neuronal arachidonic acid that could potentially originate from either the conversion of linoleic acid, or from dietary sources and transfer across the blood-brain-barrier. In a second part, a brief overview of the role of the two main agents of Alzheimer's disease, tau protein and Aβ peptide is given, followed by the examination of the relationship between arachidonic acid and the disease. Third, the putative mechanisms by which arachidonic acid could influence Alzheimer's disease occurrence and evolution are presented. The conclusion is devoted to what remains to be determined before integrating arachidonic acid in the design of preventive strategies against Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.
authors.affiliation: Unité de Recherche Aliment et Fonctionnalité des Produits Animaux (URAFPA), INRA USC 0340, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Mélanie H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Unité de Recherche Aliment et Fonctionnalité des Produits Animaux (URAFPA), INRA USC 0340, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pelleieux
authors.affiliation: Institut des Neurosciences Cellulaires et Intégratives (INCI), UPR CNRS 3212, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vitale
authors.affiliation: Unité de Recherche Aliment et Fonctionnalité des Produits Animaux (URAFPA), INRA USC 0340, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France. Electronic address: jl.olivier@chu-nancy.fr.
authors.forename: Jean Luc
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Olivier
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000378:metabolism; D016718:Arachidonic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004032:Diet; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D012307:Risk Factors; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D016875:tau Proteins; D016718:Arachidonic Acid
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Arachidonic acid; Diet; Neuroinflammation; Prevention; Synaptic function