Journal of Community Medicine & Health Education
Open Access

Abstract

Stroke is a worldwide major cause of mortality and morbidity. Preclinical studies have identified over 1000 molecules with brain-protective properties. More than 200 clinical trials have evaluated neuroprotective candidates for ischemic stroke yet, to date almost all failed, leading to a re-analysis of treatment strategies against stroke. Weirdly, how nutrition may affect stroke damage and recovery has not yet been intensely investigated, which is surprising given its great influence as risk factor. Therefore, this talk will stress the underestimated role of nutrition in preventing and combating stroke outlining an emerging view that is the health potential of alpha-linolenic acid - the omega-3 contained in plant-derived edible products - as nutraceuticals or disease-modifying adjunctive therapy in stroke. This talk will then describe how the omega-3 precursor, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) administrated by injections or dietary supplementation reduces stroke damage by direct neuroprotection, and triggering brain artery vasodilatation and neuroplasticity in rodent models. As successful translation of putative therapies will depend on demonstration of robust efficacy on common deficits resulting from stroke like loss of motor control and memory/learning, this talk will outline our recent work evaluating the value of ALA as adjunctive therapy for stroke recovery by comparing whether oral or intravenous supplementation of ALA best support motor and cognitive improvement in stroke rehabilitation. To conclude, such experimentally based investigations will be crucial to framework evidence-based guidelines for nutritional support following acute stroke and prepare the ground of clinical trial on nutritional interventions that are yet to be evaluated.

Biography

Email: blandeau@ipmc.cnrs.fr