A recent study from the Utrecht University Medical Centre has found that supplementation with Aker Biomarine’s krill oil ingredient, Lysoveta, could protect against brain damage and nerve cell loss in babies who have experienced hypoxia-ischemia (a lack of oxygen and blood flow to the brain in birth).
When a child is born, the inability to get them breathing quickly after birth can result in hypoxic-ischemic (HI) brain injury, which can have a notable impact on the baby’s wellbeing and development; even having the potential to cause neonatal mortality.
Current treatment options can currently only offer partial protection, so there it is highly necessary that further solutions become available for this potentially deadly injury type.
The neuroprotective benefits of EPA and DHA
From the study, scientists concluded that short-term supplementation with Lysoveta provided:
- Neuroprotection against the effects of neonatal HI brain injury in mice
- A reduction on grey and white matter loss
- Mitigation of oxidative stress caused by hypoxic-ischemic brain injury
However, the trial did not find any benefits to the efficacy of mesenchymal stem cell therapy — a common treatment modality for HI brain injury — when using Lysoveta.
Further research necessary
Mice supplemented with Lysoveta also saw no functional improvements in the 7 day study period. This may be due to the administration of a non-optimal treatment dose, inefficient timing of supplementation or inadequate timing of administration.
To determine if Lysoveta could offer any functional improvements, the company plans to investigate an optimal treatment regime in a follow-up study.
SVP Human Health Ingredients R&D at Aker BioMarine, Line Johnsen, commented: “Neonatal brain injury has been shown to reduce the amount of DHA in the brain, and the hypothesis is that nutritional supplementation with DHA could help reduce this deficiency and hence the risk of brain injury. Considering that the EPA and DHA in Lysoveta is part of a specific molecular structure (LPC) leading to accumulation of DHA in the brain, we believe that it holds great potential to mitigate brain injury, which we now see evidenced through this recent study.”