Wednesday July 1, 2015 (foodconsumer.org) -- Supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids like DHA from marine animals may help people with sickle cell disease (SCD), according to a new study published recently in the medical journal Blood Cells, Molecules, and Diseases.   

People with the SCD have rigid red blood cells (RBCs).  The current study led by Nancy J Wandersee from Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, WI, USA and colleagues found omega-3 fatty acid supplementation (DHA) decreased the stiffness of re d cells and increased the deformability of the cells in mice suffering SCD.

In the study, mice with sickle cell disease were fed a natural ingredient rodent diet supplemented with 3 percent docosahexanoic acid (DHA) or placebo for eight weeks.

Mice with sickle cell disease were found to have increased stiffness and decreased deformability in rigid red blood cells (RBCs) when they were fed the normal diet without DHA supplemented, compared to wild-type mice.  This demonstrated that the study animals had sickle cell disease.

When the diet was supplemented with DHA, the animals with sickle cell disease had markedly decreased stillness and increased deformability in RBCs.  Also the omega-3 fatty acid supplement reduced the number of irreversibly sickled RBCs in mice with sickle cell disease by 40%.

The study concluded DHA supplementation improves the flexibility of RBCs and reduces irreversibly sickled cells in mice suffering sickle cell disease suggesting that DHA may be used as a therapeutical agent to help people with the disease.  (David Liu)

Nancy J. Wandersee, Jamie L. Maciaszek, Katie M. Giger, Madelyn S. Hansonc, Suilan Zheng, YiHe Guo, Barbara Mickelsong, Cheryl A. Hillery, George Lykotrafitis, Philip S. Low, Neil Hogg, Dietary supplementation with docosahexanoic acid (DHA) increases red blood cell membrane flexibility in mice with sickle cell disease, Blood Cells, Molecules, and Diseases, Volume 54, Issue 2, February 2015, Pages 183–188