Omega-3 Alpha-Linolenic Acid Potential for the Reduction of Stroke Consequences
Nicolas Blondeau1,2
1Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, IPMC, Sophia Antipolis, F-06560, France;
2CNRS, IPMC, Sophia Antipolis, F-06560, France.

	Stroke is a worldwide main cause of mortality and morbidity. Preclinical studies have identified over 1000 molecules with brain-protective properties. More than 200 clinical trials have examined neuroprotection for ischemic stroke. To date most of them failed in clinical trials. Therefore testing alternative protective strategies to prevent stroke is of considerable importance.
	Although there is a consensus that nutrition is important for health, its role is underestimated in stroke prevention. It is recognized that an increase consumption of salt, fatty foods and alcoholic beverages may promote pathologies like hypertension, obesity and alcoholism, all of which are well known risk factors of stroke. In contrast, it is more difficult to identify a risk factor arising from a deficiency in an essential nutrient in the diet. Western modern diets are deficient in omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid, which deficiency constitutes by itself a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, including coronary heart disease and stroke. Furthermore, an imbalance in the consumption of omega-6 and omega-3 PUFAs progressively took place in the past 40 years leading to omega-6/omega-3 ratios that are far above the WHO healthy recommendations.
	In this context, nutritional products with health benefits represent a growing interest. We have demonstrated the pleiotric ability of the omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid to trigger responses that are multicellular, mechanistically diverse, resulting in neuronal protection, stimulation of neuroplasticity, and brain artery vasodilation. In addition, alpha-linolenic acid supplementation by modification of the daily diet prevented middle cerebral artery occlusion-induced mortality and cerebral damage in mice. Therefore this talk will outline a promising therapeutic opportunity by integrating a nutritional-based approach focusing on enriching the daily diet in omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid to prevent the devastating damage caused by stroke.
This work was supported by ONIDOL, the “Fondation de la Recherche Médicale”, St Hubert and CNRS.