Dyslipidemia, altered erythrocyte fatty acids and selenium are

Abstract

Dyslipidemia, reduced omega-3 and -6 fatty acids and antioxidative nutrients are modulatory risk factors associatedwith dementia. Diet, genetics and environment interact with nutritional metabolism and susceptibility to neurodegeneration.This study investigated the relationship between erythrocyte fatty acids and selected antioxidant nutrients in elderly Nigerianswith vascular dementia (VD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Forty VD (69.03±8.19 years) twenty AD (71.06±5.0 years) and fortycontrol (67.5±6.8 years) subjects were studied. Anthropometric indices, blood pressure (BP) and body mass index (BMI) weremeasured in all subjects. Venous blood sample was drawn from all subjects and erythrocytes separated for the determination offatty acids. Plasma lipids, selenium and vitamin E levels were also measured. There were no differences in BMI, weight and heightamong the three groups except for systolic BP that was lower in VD (148.3±41.8mmHg) than AD (156±36mmHg). Docosahexanoicacid and eicosapentanoic acid were lower in VD (6.3±2.2 and 2.0±1.6% total fatty acids [TFA]) and AD (5.4±3.1 and 3.0±1.7 %TFA)respectively than in controls (8.9±3.8 and 6.0±4.7%TFA). No variation was recorded in linolenic and arachidonic acids. Significantincreases in triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol and decreased HDL-cholesterol were observed in both VD and AD when compared tocontrols (p<0.05 in all cases). Plasma selenium levels were significantly decreased in VD and AD than in controls. Eicosapentanoicand linolenic acids concentrations were negatively correlated with plasma total cholesterol. Low levels of erythrocyte omega-3fatty acids and plasma selenium concentrations are associated with occurrence of vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease inelderly Nigerians.