Effects of docosahexaenoic acid on in vitro amyloid beta peptide 25–35 fibrillation

Amyloid β peptide25–35 (Aβ25–35) encompasses one of the neurotoxic domains of full length Aβ1–40/42, the major proteinaceous component of amyloid deposits in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We investigated the effect of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6, n-3), an essential brain polyunsaturated fatty acid, on the in vitro fibrillation of Aβ25–35 and found that it significantly reduced the degree of fibrillation, as shown by a decrease in the intensity of both the thioflavin T and green fluorescence in confocal microscopy. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that DHA-incubated samples were virtually devoid of structured fibrils but had an amorphous-like consistency, whereas the controls contained structured fibers of various widths and lengths. The in vitro fibrillation of Aβ25–35 appeared to be pH-dependent, with the strongest effect seen at pH 5.0. DHA inhibited fibrillation at all pHs, with the strongest effect at pH 7.4. It also significantly decreased the levels of Aβ25–35 oligomers. Nonreductive gradient gel electrophoresis revealed that the molecular size of the oligomers of Aβ25–35 was 10 kDa (equivalent to decamers of Aβ25–35) and that DHA dose-dependently reduced these decamers. These results suggest that DHA decreases the in vitro fibrillation of Aβ25–35 by inhibiting the oligomeric amyloid species and, therefore, Aβ25–35-related neurotoxicity or behavioral impairment could be restrained by DHA.