The document discusses docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acid. It notes that DHA is highly concentrated in the brain and retina and is important for brain and eye development. The document outlines sources of DHA including fatty fish and algae, and its role in reducing risks of heart disease and cognitive decline. Benefits of DHA supplementation are discussed for infants, vegetarians/vegans, and those with conditions like Alzheimer's or strokes.

1. Benefits of Long Chain
Omega-3 Fatty Acids EPA,

2. What Does “Omega-3” Mean?
 The term “omega-3” or “n-3” indicates
that the first double bond is located at
the third carbon from the methyl end of
the fatty acid chain.
 The long-chain omega-3s from marine
sources are EPA and DHA, with 20 and
22 carbons.
 There are also plant sources of omega-
3 fatty acids with 18 carbons.

3.  An abundance of evidence strongly suggests that
increased intakes of long chain omega-3 fatty
acids can markedly reduce the risk of heart
disease.
 The omega-3 fatty acids believed to be largely
responsible for these effects include EPA and
DHA.
 These “good fats” are naturally present in some
types of fish and in other marine organisms such
as algae, and they are also readily available in
purified form in dietary supplements

6. THE LONG-CHAIN N-3 FATTY ACIDS FOUND IN
FISH MAY REDUCE THE RISK OF SUDDEN
DEATH FROM CARDIAC DISEASE
The researchers suggest
that omega-3 fatty acids may
protect against death from
heart disease by decreasing
the Heart’s tendency to
arrhythmia.

7.  The most important finding is
of a reduction in sudden
death from ventricular
fibrillation and tachycardia.
 Omega-3 fatty acids also
reduce the tendency to
thrombosis (formation of
blood clots), and thus help
prevent myocardial infarction.

8.  EPA and DHA also have several actions that
inhibit the development of atherosclerosis.
 While these fatty acids do not lower plasma
cholesterol levels, they do have a
substantial triglyceride-lowering effect and
also raise levels of HDL (“good”
cholesterol).
 Now in the present scenario omega-3 fatty
acids are regarded or have the status of
natural food

9. Ѡ – 3 FATTY ACIDS
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA):
22 carbons and six double bonds
Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA):
20 carbons and five double bonds
Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA):
18 carbons and three double bonds

11. MOST IMPORTANT OMEGA -3
FATTY ACID DOCOSAHEXAENOIC
ACID (DHA)
 Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)
is the most important member
of the
 Omega – 3 Fatty Acid

12. WHY ?
 Because it is a primary
structural component of the
human brain, cerebral
cortex, skin, sperm,
testicles and retina
 It can be synthesized from
alpha-linolenic acid or
obtained directly from
maternal milk or fish oil.

13. STRUCTURE OF DHA
 DHA's structure is a carboxylic
acid (-oic acid)
With a 22-carbon chain
 Docosa- is a Greek word for 22
 With Six (hexa-) cis double bonds
(-en-) with the first double bond
located at the third carbon from the
omega end.

14. CERVONIC ACID
 Its trivial name is cervonic acid
 Its systematic name is
all-cis-docosa-4,7,10,13,16,19-
hexa-enoic acid, and its
shorthand name is 22:6(n-3) in
the nomenclature of fatty acids.

15. Cervonic acid, DHA
DO(4Z,7Z,10Z,13Z,16Z,19Z)-DOCOSA-4,7,10,13,16,19-HEXAENOIC
ACID
Properties
Molecular formula C22H32O2
Molar mass 328.488 g/mol
Density 0.943 g/cm3
Melting point −44 °C (−47 °F; 229 K)

16. SOURCES OF DHA
 Cold-water oceanic fish oils
are rich in DHA. Most of the
DHA in fish and multi-cellular
organisms with access to
cold-water oceanic foods
originates from
photosynthetic and
heterotrophic microalgae,


17. DHA is also
commercially
manufactured from
microalgae:
 Crypthecodinium cohnii
and another of the genus
Schizochytrium.
 DHA manufactured
using microalgae is
vegetarian

18.  Some animals with access to
seafood make very little DHA
through metabolism, but
obtain it in the diet.
 However, in strict herbivores,
and carnivores that do not eat
seafood, DHA is manufactured
internally from α-linolenic acid

19. Α-Linolenic acid also
called ALA is a shorter
omega-3 fatty acid
manufactured by plants
(and also occurring in
animal products as
obtained from plants).

20. PRODUCTION DURING METABOLISM OF EPA &
DHA
Limited amounts of
eicosapentaenoic and
docosapentaenoic acids are
possible products of α-linolenic
acid metabolism in young women
and men .
DHA is difficult to detect above
dietary background in males
compared with females

21. This shows the importance
of DHA production for the
developing foetus and
healthy breast milk. .
 DHA is richly supplied
during breastfeeding, and
DHA levels are high in
breast milk regardless of
dietary choices.

22. CONCENTRATION IN BREAST MILK DURING
PREGNANCY AND LACTATION
DHA concentrations in
breast milk range from
0.07% to greater than
1.0% of total fatty acids,
with a mean of about
0.34%.
 DHA levels in breast
milk are higher if a

23. DHA IS CONSTITUENT
OF THE CENTRAL
NERVOUS SYSTEM

24.  DHA is the most abundant omega-
3 fatty acid in the brain and retina.
 DHA comprises 40% of the
polyunsaturated fatty acids
(PUFAs) in the brain and 60% of
the PUFAs in the retina.
 Fifty percent of the weight of a
neuron's plasma membrane is
composed of DHA.

25.  DHA deficiency is associated
with cognitive decline of
Phosphatidylserine(PS)
controls apoptosis, and
 Low DHA levels lower neural
cell PS and increase neural
cell death
 DHA levels are reduced in the
brain tissue of severely
depressed patients.

26. Higher DHA levels in
middle-aged adults is
related to better
performance on tests
of nonverbal
reasoning and mental
flexibility, working
memory, and

27. BELOW-NORMAL LEVELS OF DHA
HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
 Alzheimer's disease and decline of
mental health
 Preclinical studies indicate that DHA
improves memory, can slow the
progression of Alzheimer's diseas
 DHA deficiency likely plays a role in
decline of mental function in healthy
adults

28.  high intake of DHA was
associated with reduced risk
for developing Alzheimer's
disease and Parkinson's
disease
 Consistent with DHA being the
most abundant omega-3 fatty
acid in the brain.
 Therefore Neuro protective

29.  DHA modulates the carrier-
mediated transport of choline,
glycine, and taurine.
 It functions as the delayed
rectifier potassium channels and
the response of rhodopsin
contained in the synaptic
vesicles, among many other
functions.
 A low level of DHA is also

30. PROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF DHA
 It is now considered so important to brain
and eye development that DHA is included
in most infant formulas.
 Lastly, in preliminary research, it was found
that a diet rich in DHA might protect stroke
victims from brain damage and disability
and aid in a speedier recovery.[
 Accordingly, dietary administrered DHA
reduces stroke-induced neuroin flammation
in animal models.[59]

31. FORMATION OF ACROSOME
 DHA is very likely important in the formation
of the acrosome, an arc-like structure on the
top of sperm, which is critical in fertilization
because it houses a variety of enzymes that
sperm use to penetrate an egg.
 Because humans and other mammals are
able to make their own DHA from other fatty
acids, DHA deficiency is not common. But, if
that DHA-synthesizing enzyme is defective,
it could lead to problems with infertility.

32. IN EPILEPSY AND COLON
CARCINOMA
 The use of DHA by persons
with epilepsy could decrease
the frequency of their
seizures.
 In mice, DHA was found to
inhibit growth of human colon
carcinoma cells, more than
other omega-3 PUFAs.

33. SLOWS DOWN AGING
A new study found that
higher intake of DHA was
associated with slower
rates of telomere
shortening, which is a
basic DNA-level marker of
aging.

34. DHA & EPA LOWER INFLAMMATORY
CYTOKINES
One study found that fish oil
higher in DHA than EPA
lowered inflammatory
cytokines, such as IL-6and
IL-1β associated with
neurodegenerative and
Autoimmune

35.  They note the brain
normally contains DHA,
but not EPA, though both
DHA and EPA plasma
concentrations
increased significantly
for participants

37. NUTRITION
 Ordinary types of cooked salmon contain
500–1500 mg DHA and
300–1000 mg EPA per 100 grams.
 Additional top fish sources of DHA include tuna,
bluefish, mackerel, swordfish, anchovies, herring,
sardines, and caviar.
 Diets that consist of high doses of omega-3 fatty
acids help prevent strokes. There are fewer strokes
in countries where people consume high amounts of
omega-3 fatty acids, such as Japan and Sweden

42. DISCOVERY OF ALGAE-BASED DHA
In the early 1980s, NASA
sponsored scientific
research in search of a
plant-based food source
that could generate oxygen
and nutrition on long-
duration space flights.

43. This research led to the
development of an algae-
based, vegetable-like oil that
contains two essential
polyunsaturated fatty acids,
DHA and ARA (arachidonic
acid), which can now be found
in health supplements.

44. USE AS A FOOD ADDITIVE
 DHA is widely used as a food
supplement
 It was first used primarily in
infant formulas. In 2004, the US
Food and Drug Administration
endorsed qualified health claims
for DHA.
 2007 DHA-fortified dairy items
 milk, yogurt, cooking oil started to
appear in grocery stores.

45. STUDIES OF VEGETARIANS AND
VEGANS
 While .there is little evidence of
adverse health or cognitive effects
due to DHA deficiency in adult
vegetarians or vegans, fetal and
breast milk levels remain a
concern
Vegetarian diets typically contain
limited amounts of DHA, and vegan
diets typically contain no DHA.

46.  Vegetarians and vegans have
substantially lower levels of DHA in
their bodies, and short-term
supplemental ALA has been shown to
increase EPA , but not DHA.
 However, supplemental preformed
DHA, available in algae-derived oils or
capsules, has been shown to increase
DHA levels.

47. DHA is believed to be helpful to
people with a history of heart
disease.
 For premature infants, and to
support healthy brain development
especially in young children along
with supporting retinal
development.

48. Some manufactured DHA is a
vegetarian product extracted from
algae, and it competes on the market
with fish oil that contains DHA and
other omega-3's such as EPA.
 Both fish oil and DHA are odorless
and tasteless after processing as a
food additive.