The effects of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E co-supplementation on clinical and metabolic status in patients with Parkinson's disease: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
Authors: Ebrahim Kouchaki
Mohsen Taghizadeh
Mohammad Reza Memarzadeh
Zatollah Asemi
Fereshteh Bahmani
Omid Reza Tamtaji
Javad Abolhassani
Mohammad Hossein Aarabi
Reza Daneshvar Kakhaki
Ehsan Dadgostar
Journal: Neurochemistry International (2017)
Discipline: NEUROSCIENCE & BEHAVIOR
Keywords: Inflammation; Oxidative stress; Parkinson's disease; Supplementation.
Affiliations: Research Center for Biochemistry and Nutrition in Metabolic Diseases, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran., Physiology Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran., Student Research Committee, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran., Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran., Physiology Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran; Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran., Barij Medicinal Plants Research Center, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran., Research Center for Biochemistry and Nutrition in Metabolic Diseases, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran. Electronic address: .

Abstract:  The current research was performed to evaluate the effects of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E co-supplementation on clinical signs and metabolic status in people with Parkinson's disease (PD). This randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted in 60 patients with PD. Participants were randomly assigned into two groups to receive either 1000 mg omega-3 fatty acids from flaxseed oil plus 400 IU vitamin E supplements (n = 30) or placebo (n = 30) for 12 weeks. Unified Parkinson's disease rating stage (UPDRS) were recorded at baseline and the after 3-month intervention. After 12 weeks' intervention, compared with the placebo, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E co-supplementation led to a significant improve in UPDRS (-3.3 ± 10.0 vs. +4.4 ± 14.9, P = 0.02). Furthermore, co-supplementation decreased high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (-0.3 ± 0.6 vs. +0.3 ± 0.3 μg/mL, P &lt; 0.001), and increased total antioxidant capacity (TAC) (+65.2 ± 68.7 vs. +16 ± 52.4 μmol/L, P = 0.003) and glutathione (GSH) concentrations (+41.4 ± 80.6 vs. -19.6 ± 55.9 μmol/L, P = 0.001) compared with the placebo. Additionally, co-supplementation meaningfully decreased insulin (-2.1 ± 4.9 vs. +1.4 ± 6.2 μIU/mL, P = 0.01), homeostasis model of assessment-estimated insulin resistance (-0.7 ± 1.8 vs.+0.3 ± 1.6, P = 0.02) and Beta cell function (-5.9 ± 13.9 vs. +5.7 ± 25.5, P = 0.03), and increased quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (+0.009 ± 0.02 vs. -0.006 ± 0.03, P = 0.03) compared with the placebo. Overall, our study demonstrated that omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E co-supplementation in people with PD had favorable effects on UPDRS, hs-CRP, TAC, GSH and markers of insulin metabolism. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 There are many concerns about the integrity of 172 publications by this research group, including this one. Some of the concerns are published 1. Anaesthesia 2020;75:1683u201392, see Supplementary data. This paper is A119 2. Account Res 2020;28:149-61. 3. J Clin Epidemiol 2021;131:22-29. Journals and publishers were notified of these concerns in July 2019. 23 publications have an expression of concern. To our knowledge there has been no public response about any of the concerns. We think these publications are unreliable ,