Dietary Supplementation with Zinc Sulphate, Sodium Selenite and Fatty Acids in Early Dementia of Alzheimer's Type. II: Effects on Lipids

Abstract

In a dietary supplementation study of 30 subjects with early Alzheimer's disease [1], 15 received evening primrose oil plus zinc sulphate plus sodium selenite and 15 received olive oil. We have now looked at the effects of the supplements on the lipid abnormalities noted in the patients. The proportion of saturated fatty acids in plasma phospholi-pids was reduced after supplementation while the more unsaturated red cell (RBC) membrane phospholipids showed no change, i.e. the relative unsaturation of the red cell phospholipids was not altered by the dietary supplementation that significantly reduced the saturation of the plasma phospholipids. There may thus be a defect of fatty acid incorporation into the red cell membrane phospholipids or an unidentified abnormality of the structure which leads to the altered fatty acid constitution without altered fluidity, as other studies have found no change in the fluidity of the RBC membranes in Alzheimer's disease. Impaired uptake of cholesterol by the erythrocyte ...