Improving Effects of Fish Oil Combined With Pine Bark Extract on Cognitive Decline

The Improving Effects of Fish Oil Supplementation Combined With Pine Bark Extract on Cognition in Aged-related Cognitive Decline

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the improving effects of ω-3 fatty acid from fish oil combined with polyphenolic extract from pine bark (PE) on cognitive functions and biological parameters in healthy people aged 55 to 75.

Sixty participants who meet the inclusion criteria will be randomly divided into two groups. Participants in FO group will be provided one capsule of fish oil (350mg EPA + 250mg DHA) per day for 6 months. Moreover, participants in FOPE group will be provided one capsule of fish oil (350mg EPA + 250mg DHA) combined with PE (100mg Oligopin) per day for 6 months. A cognitive function evaluation, blood biological analysis and antioxidative status will be carried out at the baseline, 3 th month and the end of the supplementation period. On the other hand, blood fatty acid composition will be measured at the baseline and the end of the supplementation period. All participants will come to laboratory and receive the supplements every month. At the same time, they will accept the measurement of body weight and blood pressure, also be interviewed with 24 hours dietary recall questionnaire.

Dietary supplement, Polyphenolic extract from pine bark (Oligopin® 100mg) and fish oil capsule contained EPA 350mg + DHA 250mg. This group will receive a nutritional supplement for a period of 6 months. The participants will have a capsule of polyphenolic extract and a capsule of fish oil a day.

This group will have placebo capsule and fish oil capsule. Placebo capsule contained maltodextrin and magnesium stearate, while fish oil contained EPA 350mg + DHA 250mg. The participants will receive the supplements for a period of 6 months and have a capsule of placebo and a capsule of fish oil a day.

During the experiment period the participants will receive a capsule of pine bark extract (Oligopin® 100mg) and a capsule of fish oil (EPA 350mg + DHA 250mg) a day. Blood collecting (biomedical parameters and antioxidative status) and cognitive function evaluation will be examined at the 0, 12, 24th week. Body composition, 24-hour dietary recall and blood pressure measurement will be measured at 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24th week.

During the experiment period the participants will receive a capsule of placebo (maltodextrin + magnesium stearate) and a capsule of fish oil (EPA 350mg + DHA 250mg) a day. Blood collecting (biomedical parameters and antioxidative status) and cognitive function evaluation will be examined at the 0, 12, 24th week. Body composition, 24-hour dietary recall and blood pressure measurement will be measured at 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24th week.

CDR is a rating scale for staging patients diagnosed with dementia. no dementia (CDR = 0), questionable dementia (CDR = 0.5), MCI (CDR = 1), moderate cognitive impairment (CDR = 2), and severe cognitive impairment (CDR = 3)

CASI is a cognitive test screening for dementia. For monitoring the disease progression and providing profiles of cognitive impairment by examining abilities on attention, concentration, orientation, short-term memory, long-term memory, language abilities, visual construction, list-generating fluency and abstraction.

Serum WBC in 1000/uL; neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils and basophils are in percentage.

Lipid composition on the cell membrane of red blood cell. It will be analyzed by GC/MS system and based on the protocol of Wang et al. The composition of C16:0, C18:0, C18:1, C18:2, C18:3, C20:4, C20:5, C22:5, C22:6, saturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, total n-3 fatty acids, total n-6 fatty acids and the ratio of n-3 and n-6 will be measured. C16:0, C18:0, C18:1, C18:2, C18:3, C20:4, C20:5, C22:5, C22:6, saturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, total n-3 fatty acids, total n-6 fatty acids are in percentage.

Inclusion Criteria: I. 55~75 years old II. No severe diseases, such as hyperlipidemia, diabetes, heart diseases, cancer etc. III. Mini-mental state examination (MMSE) score is more than 26 IV. Clinical dementia rating scale (CDRS) score is less than 0.5 Exclusion Criteria: liver disease, kidney disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, anemia, cancer