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Docosahexaenoic acid reduces levodopa-induced dyskinesias in 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine monkeys.

Samadi P, Grégoire L, Rouillard C, Bédard PJ, Di Paolo T, Lévesque D

Centre de recherche en Neurosciences, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec (CHUQ), Ste-Foy, Quebec, Canada.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a polyunsaturated fatty acid (omega-3), on levodopa-induced dyskinesias (LIDs) in parkinsonian 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-treated monkeys. METHODS: We explored the effect of DHA in two paradigms. First, a group of MPTP monkeys was primed with levodopa for several months before introducing DHA. A second group of MPTP monkeys (de novo) was exposed to DHA before levodopa therapy. RESULTS: DHA administration reduced LIDs in both paradigms without alteration of the anti-parkinsonian effect of levodopa indicating that DHA can reduce the severity or delay the development of LIDs in a nonhuman primate model of Parkinson's disease. INTERPRETATION: These results suggest that DHA can reduce the severity or delay the develoment of LIDs in a nonhuman primate model of Parkinson's disease. DHA may represent a new approach to improve the quality of life of Parkinson's disease patients. Ann Neurol 2006;59:282-288.

Published 31 January 2006 in Ann Neurol, 59(2): 282-8.
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