WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A study by scientists at the Medical University of South Carolina, published in Cell Reports, suggests that some parts of fish oil may actually slow the brain's recovery after repeated mild head injuries.
Fish oil comes from fatty fish like salmon and mackerel. It is popular because it contains omega-3 fatty acids, which are known to support heart health and are often thought to help the brain.
The study was led by neuroscientist Onder Albayram along with researchers including Eda Karakaya, Adviye Ergul, and Semir Beyaz from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cancer Center. They focused on a specific omega-3 fat called eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which is found in fish oil.
'Fish oil supplements are everywhere, and people take them for a range of reasons, often without a clear understanding of their long-term effects,' Albayram said.
'But in terms of neuroscience, we still don't know whether the brain has resilience or resistance to this supplement. That's why ours is the first such study in the field.'
To study this, researchers used different methods. In mice, they looked at how long-term fish oil use affected the brain after repeated mild head injuries, especially focusing on blood vessel repair.
They also studied human brain cells that form the barrier between the brain and bloodstream. In these tests, EPA (but not DHA) reduced the cells' ability to repair themselves, which was similar to what they saw in animals. The team also examined brain tissue from people who had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition linked to repeated head injuries.
The study found that EPA may weaken blood vessels in the brain after injury, leading to memory and thinking problems. It can also change how brain cells respond after injury and reduce healing signals. Moreover, under certain conditions, EPA may harm the repair of blood vessels in the brain.
'I am not saying fish oil is good or bad in some universal way,' Albayram noted. 'What our data highlight is that biology is context-dependent. We need to understand how these supplements behave in the body over time, rather than assuming the same effect applies to everyone.'
Overall, the findings suggest that nutrition plans and treatments for brain injuries may need to be more personalized, especially when it comes to omega-3 supplements.
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