ArticleThe Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience2006
Omega-3 fatty acids improve recovery, whereas omega-6 fatty acids worsen outcome, after spinal cord injury in the adult rat.
Article in The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 77 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
77 citing papers in PubMed, 207 citations in OpenAlex.
- A pilot randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study of omega-3 fatty acids to prevent paclitaxel-associated acute pain syndrome in breast cancer patients: Alliance A22_Pilot2.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2023Trial
- Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids protect against inflammation through production of LOX and CYP450 lipid mediators: relevance for major depression and for human hippocampal neurogenesis.Molecular psychiatry · 2021Trial
- Omega-3 fatty acids' effect on leptin and adiponectin concentrations in patients with spinal cord injury: A double-blinded randomized clinical trial.The journal of spinal cord medicine · 2015Trial
- Alterations in Phospholipid Levels and Spatial Distribution in the Motor Cortex and Their Correlation with Motor Performance in an MPTP-Induced Parkinsonian Mouse Model.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Progress on Omega-3 fatty acids for the comprehensive and targeted treatment of spinal cord injury.Bone research · 2026Review
- A Review of the Potential Use of Antioxidants in Spinal Cord Injuries.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Review
- Targeting Glutamate Neurotoxicity through Dietary Manipulation: Potential Treatment for Migraine.Nutrients · 2023Review
- Nutrition Education to Reduce Metabolic Dysfunction for Spinal Cord Injury: A Module-Based Nutrition Education Guide for Healthcare Providers and Consumers.Journal of personalized medicine · 2022Review
- Omega-3 fatty acids in the treatment of spinal cord injury: untapped potential for therapeutic intervention?Molecular biology reports · 2022Review
- Oxidative DNA Damage in the Pathophysiology of Spinal Cord Injury: Seems Obvious, but Where Is the Evidence?Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Bioactive Compounds for Fibromyalgia-like Symptoms: A Narrative Review and Future Perspectives.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Co-Delivery of Docosahexaenoic Acid and Brain-Derived Neurotropic Factor from Electrospun Aligned Core-Shell Fibrous Membranes in Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury.Pharmaceutics · 2022Article
- Article
- Management of thoracic spinal cord injury in a professional American football athlete: illustrative case.Journal of neurosurgery. Case lessons · 2021Article
- Docosahexaenoic Acid-Loaded Polylactic Acid Core-Shell Nanofiber Membranes for Regenerative Medicine after Spinal Cord Injury: In Vitro and In Vivo Study.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Article
- Novel Approaches for Omega-3 Fatty Acid Therapeutics: Chronic Versus Acute Administration to Protect Heart, Brain, and Spinal Cord.Annual review of nutrition · 2020Review
- The role of omega-3 fatty acids in preventing glucocorticoid-induced reduction in human hippocampal neurogenesis and increase in apoptosis.Translational psychiatry · 2020Article
- Intravenous lipid emulsion modifies synaptic transmission in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons after bupivacaine-induced central nervous system toxicity.Journal of neurochemistry · 2020Article
- Effect of docosahexaenoic acid on the recovery of motor function in rats with spinal cord injury: a meta-analysis.Neural regeneration research · 2020Article
17 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a cause of major neurological disability, and no satisfactory treatment is currently available. Evidence suggests that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) could target some of the pathological mechanisms that underlie damage after SCI. We examined the effects of treatment with PUFAs after lateral spinal cord hemisection in the rat. The omega-3 PUFAs alpha-linolenic acid and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) injected 30 min after injury induced significantly improved locomotor performance and neuroprotection, including decreased lesion size and apoptosis and increased neuronal and oligodendrocyte survival. Evidence showing a decrease in RNA/DNA oxidation suggests that the neuroprotective effect of omega-3 PUFAs involved a significant antioxidant function. In contrast, animals treated with arachidonic acid, an omega-6 PUFA, had a significantly worse outcome than controls. We confirmed the neuroprotective effect of omega-3 PUFAs by examining the effects of DHA treatment after spinal cord compression injury. Results indicated that DHA administered 30 min after spinal cord compression not only greatly increased survival of neurons but also resulted in significantly better locomotor performance for up to 6 weeks after injury. This report shows a striking difference in efficacy between the effects of treatment with omega-3 and omega-6 PUFAs on the outcome of SCI, with omega-3 PUFAs being neuroprotective and omega-6 PUFAs having a damaging effect. Given the proven clinical safety of omega-3 PUFAs, our observations show that these PUFAs have significant therapeutic potential in SCI. In contrast, the use of preparations enriched in omega-6 PUFAs after injury could worsen outcome after SCI.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.