Grant: Operating Grant

Inflammation in the brain, also called neuroinflammation believed to contribute to increased risk of several brain disorders including major depression and Alzheimer's disease. Many different types of studies examining people who eat fish, which is rich in a fatty acid called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)demonstrate that it reduces the risk or can even treat several of these brain disorders. However, it is unknown how DHA works in these disorders. While using a mouse model of neuroinflammation, we have shown that increasing brain DHA, with diet or genetic approaches lowers brain inflammation. Furthermore, we have discovered a metabolite of DHA that is formed when brain inflammations starts to decrease. We think that this new metabolite of DHA may be the mechanism by which DHA lowers brain inflammation. If this is true, this work could lead to potent new methods to treat brain inflammation and brain disorders.