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DHA and Its Elaborated Modulation of Antioxidant Defenses of the Brain: Implications in Aging and AD Neurodegeneration

DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is perhaps the most pleiotropic molecule in nerve cell biology. This long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid has evolved to accomplish essential functions ranging from structural components allowing fast events in nerve cell membrane physiology to regulation of neurogenes...

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Autores principales: Díaz, Mario, Mesa-Herrera, Fátima, Marín, Raquel
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8228037/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34205196
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antiox10060907
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author Díaz, Mario
Mesa-Herrera, Fátima
Marín, Raquel
author_facet Díaz, Mario
Mesa-Herrera, Fátima
Marín, Raquel
author_sort Díaz, Mario
collection PubMed
description DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is perhaps the most pleiotropic molecule in nerve cell biology. This long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid has evolved to accomplish essential functions ranging from structural components allowing fast events in nerve cell membrane physiology to regulation of neurogenesis and synaptic function. Strikingly, the plethora of DHA effects has to take place within the hostile pro-oxidant environment of the brain parenchyma, which might suggest a molecular suicide. In order to circumvent this paradox, different molecular strategies have evolved during the evolution of brain cells to preserve DHA and to minimize the deleterious effects of its oxidation. In this context, DHA has emerged as a member of the “indirect antioxidants” family, the redox effects of which are not due to direct redox interactions with reactive species, but to modulation of gene expression within thioredoxin and glutathione antioxidant systems and related pathways. Weakening or deregulation of these self-protecting defenses orchestrated by DHA is associated with normal aging but also, more worryingly, with the development of neurodegenerative diseases. In the present review, we elaborate on the essential functions of DHA in the brain, including its role as indirect antioxidant, the selenium connection for proper antioxidant function and their changes during normal aging and in Alzheimer’s disease.
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spelling pubmed-82280372021-06-26 DHA and Its Elaborated Modulation of Antioxidant Defenses of the Brain: Implications in Aging and AD Neurodegeneration Díaz, Mario Mesa-Herrera, Fátima Marín, Raquel Antioxidants (Basel) Review DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is perhaps the most pleiotropic molecule in nerve cell biology. This long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid has evolved to accomplish essential functions ranging from structural components allowing fast events in nerve cell membrane physiology to regulation of neurogenesis and synaptic function. Strikingly, the plethora of DHA effects has to take place within the hostile pro-oxidant environment of the brain parenchyma, which might suggest a molecular suicide. In order to circumvent this paradox, different molecular strategies have evolved during the evolution of brain cells to preserve DHA and to minimize the deleterious effects of its oxidation. In this context, DHA has emerged as a member of the “indirect antioxidants” family, the redox effects of which are not due to direct redox interactions with reactive species, but to modulation of gene expression within thioredoxin and glutathione antioxidant systems and related pathways. Weakening or deregulation of these self-protecting defenses orchestrated by DHA is associated with normal aging but also, more worryingly, with the development of neurodegenerative diseases. In the present review, we elaborate on the essential functions of DHA in the brain, including its role as indirect antioxidant, the selenium connection for proper antioxidant function and their changes during normal aging and in Alzheimer’s disease. MDPI 2021-06-03 /pmc/articles/PMC8228037/ /pubmed/34205196 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antiox10060907 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Díaz, Mario
Mesa-Herrera, Fátima
Marín, Raquel
DHA and Its Elaborated Modulation of Antioxidant Defenses of the Brain: Implications in Aging and AD Neurodegeneration
title DHA and Its Elaborated Modulation of Antioxidant Defenses of the Brain: Implications in Aging and AD Neurodegeneration
title_full DHA and Its Elaborated Modulation of Antioxidant Defenses of the Brain: Implications in Aging and AD Neurodegeneration
title_fullStr DHA and Its Elaborated Modulation of Antioxidant Defenses of the Brain: Implications in Aging and AD Neurodegeneration
title_full_unstemmed DHA and Its Elaborated Modulation of Antioxidant Defenses of the Brain: Implications in Aging and AD Neurodegeneration
title_short DHA and Its Elaborated Modulation of Antioxidant Defenses of the Brain: Implications in Aging and AD Neurodegeneration
title_sort dha and its elaborated modulation of antioxidant defenses of the brain: implications in aging and ad neurodegeneration
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8228037/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34205196
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antiox10060907
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