Dietary intake and plasma levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids in early-stage Parkinson\u2019s disease

Dallah Yoo,Yunsook Lim,Hyunkyung Rho,Chaewon Shin,Yiseul Son,Tae-Beom Ahn

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-92029-x

Dallah Yoo, Yunsook Lim + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-92029-x

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Abstract

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are important for neuronal function and may contribute to the development of neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we investigated the correlation between dietary intake and plasma concentrations of PUFA and their associations with clinical severity in early-stage Parkinson’s disease (PD). In a case–control study with 38 patients with PD and 33 controls, we assessed dietary intake using food frequency questionnaires and simultaneously measured the plasma levels of five PUFA. No differences were observed in dietary total energy and lipid intake, including PUFA, between patients with PD and controls. However, α-linolenic acid (ALA), linoleic acid (LA), and arachidonic acid (AA) plasma levels were lower in patients with PD. The association between dietary intake and plasma PUFA concentrations was not significant in patients with PD. ALA and LA plasma levels were inversely correlated with motor severity in patients with PD, while docosahexaenoic acid and AA plasma levels were positively correlated with non-motor symptoms after controlling for age and sex.

Highlights

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are important for neuronal function and may contribute to the development of neurodegenerative diseases
The plasma levels of ALA, linoleic acid (LA), and arachidonic acid (AA) were significantly lower in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) than in controls, individual values overlapped between the two groups (p = 0.017, p = 0.003, and p = 0.024, respectively; Scientific Reports | (2021) 11:12489 |
When subgroup analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of anti-parkinsonian medications, only the plasma level of LA was lower in patients taking catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitor compared to those who did not (211.8 ± 50.4 μg/ mL versus 269.2 ± 71.0 μg/mL, respectively, p = 0.025 [Supplementary Table S1])

Summary

Introduction

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are important for neuronal function and may contribute to the development of neurodegenerative diseases. We investigated the correlation between dietary intake and plasma concentrations of PUFA and their associations with clinical severity in earlystage Parkinson’s disease (PD). In a case–control study with 38 patients with PD and 33 controls, we assessed dietary intake using food frequency questionnaires and simultaneously measured the plasma levels of five PUFA. No differences were observed in dietary total energy and lipid intake, including PUFA, between patients with PD and controls. The association between dietary intake and plasma PUFA concentrations was not significant in patients with PD. Abbreviations PD Parkinson’s disease PUFA Polyunsaturated fatty acids ALA (C18:3N3) Alpha-linolenic acid EPA (C20:5N3) Eicosapentaenoic acid DHA (C22:6N3) Docosahexaenoic acid LA (C18:2N6) Linoleic acid AA (C20:4N6) Arachidonic acid FFQ Food frequency questionnaire UPDRS Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale WCS Wexner constipation score K-NMSS Korean version of the Non-Motor Symptom Scale. Dietary PUFA consumption and the intrinsic n-6/n-3 balance may play a role in physiological processes, including neuroinflammation, aging-related processes, and neurodegenerative diseases[23]

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