Cited by 84Fatty Acid Research and HealthAntioxidant Activity and Oxidative StressAlzheimer's disease research and treatments

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

Open access
Díaz, Mario, Mesa-Herrera, Fátima, Marín, Raquel·2021·Antioxidants

Abstract

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.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3390/antiox10060907

Cites

207 of 207 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 208 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [80]Ursini F. Maiorino M. Glutathione Peroxidases Encyclopedia of Biological Chemistry 2nd ed. Lennarz W.J. Lane M.D. Academic Press Waltham, MA, USA 2013 399 404 978-0-12-378631-9
  2. [166]Ran Q. Liang H. The Use of Gpx4 Knockout Mice and Transgenic Mice to Study the Roles of Lipid Peroxidation in Diseases and Aging BT-Studies on Experimental Models Basu S. Wiklund L. Humana Press Totowa, NJ, USA 2011 265 278 978-1-60761-956-7

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Díaz, M., Mesa-Herrera, F., & Marín, R.
Affiliations
  • Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES)
  • Universidad de La Laguna (ES)
Corresponding author
Díaz, Mario
Venue
Antioxidants
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2021-06-03
Volume
10
Issue
6
Pages
907
ISSN
2076-3921 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3167089249
Cited by
84
References
208
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 9
FWCI
1.77
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Antioxidants (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Fatty Acid Research and Health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Biochemistry › Antioxidant Activity and Oxidative Stress
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
Keywords
docosahexaenoic acid, omega-3 fatty acids, thioredoxin system, glutathione system, oxidative stress, neurodegeneration, Alzheimer's disease, brain aging, selenium, gene expression regulation, membrane fatty acids, neurogenesis, synaptic function

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review