In a recent study published in Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy , researchers described a novel therapeutic approach for neonatal hypoxic-ischemic (HI) brain injury. Study: Omega-3 fatty acid diglyceride emulsions as a novel injectable acute therapeutic in neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury . Image Credit: Sergii Sobolevskyi/Shutterstock.
com Neonatal HI encephalopathy occurs due to a lack of oxygen and blood flow to the brain during labor/delivery. It is among the major causes of cerebral palsy, death, and other neurological conditions. Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is the standard of care for HIE.
However, TH has several limitations and challenges in clinical practice, such as cognitive impairments, variable clinical response, and incomplete protection, warranting more effective and accessible therapies for HIE. Studies have provided evidence for dietary supplements and oral omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 FAs) as potential neuro- and cardioprotective strategies. Previously, the researchers showed that administering docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) as triglyceride (TG) emulsion particles following HI injury in neonatal mice significantly attenuated brain damage.
In the present study, researchers evaluated the efficacy of a novel n-3 diglyceride (DG) lipid emulsion in neonatal HI brain injury. They produced n-3 DG oils through reverse glycerolysis reactions and prepared 10% lipid emulsions by mixing n-3 DG or TG-DHA oils with egg yolk phosphatidylcholine. Next, the average particle size.