Journal of Aquaculture Research & Development

Health benefits from natural sources of astaxanthin and omega-3 fatty acids: Fish oil, algal biomasses, and krill oil

International Conference on Aquaculture & Fisheries

July 20-22, 2015 Brisbane, Australia

Marcelo Paes de Barros

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Aquac Res Development

Abstract:

The regular consumption of marine fish and seafood has been long recommended as a nutritional intervention to preserve general health, including improvement of immune responses, prevention of neurodegenerative diseases, and inhibition of carcinogenic processes. Most of the health benefits provided by marine food consumption comes from an adequate uptake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, (n-3)/PUFAs, and the antioxidant carotenoid astaxanthin (ASTA). On the other hand, several studies have given rise to the hypothesis that unbalanced (n-3)/PUFAs consumption could affect the physicochemical properties of biological membranes (fluidity, permeability, hydrophobicity, etc.), thereby impacting negatively on cell-cell communication, and, consequently, depressing immunological efficiency, cell proliferation, speed of signal transduction and the effectiveness of neurotransmission. Furthermore, (n-3)/PUFA-overloaded membranes become more sensitive to oxidative injury if not properly counterbalanced by antioxidant compounds, such as ASTA. Therefore, an appropriate redox balance in specific cells/tissues is necessary for optimal metabolic and physiological functions in all organisms. This work focused on the long-term supplementation of ASTA, (n-3)/PUFAs, and their combination from natural sources (e.g. fish oil, algal biomasses and krill oil) in Wistar rats and subsequent redox analyses in immune cells (mostly, neutrophils and lymphocytes), specific brain regions related to anxiety behavior (anterior forebrain) and motor control (cerebellum), in plasma, and soleus muscles of animals submitted to exercise until exhaustion. Finally, new perspectives for a reasonable application of both natural micronutrients will be discussed, based on the well accepted ?hormesis? principle.