The dysfunction of oligodendrocytes (OLs) is regarded as one of the major causes of inefficient remyelination in multiple sclerosis, resulting gradually in disease progression. Oligodendrocytes are derived from oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs), which populate the adult central nervous system, but their physiological capability to myelin synthesis is limited. The low intake of essential lipids for sphingomyelin synthesis in the human diet may account for increased demyelination and the reduced efficiency of the remyelination process. In our study on lipid profiling in an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis brain, we revealed that during acute inflammation, nervonic acid synthesis is silenced, which is the effect of shifting the lipid metabolism pathway of common substrates into proinflammatory arachidonic acid production. In the experiments on the human model of maturating oligodendrocyte precursor cells (hOPCs) in vitro, we demonstrated that fish oil mixture (FOM) affected the function of hOPCs, resulting in the improved synthesis of myelin basic protein, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein, and proteolipid protein, as well as sphingomyelin. Additionally, FOM reduces proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, and enhances fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) synthesis by hOPCs was also demonstrated. Based on these observations, we propose that the intake of FOM rich in the nervonic acid ester may improve OL function, affecting OPC maturation and limiting inflammation.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of dietary supplementation with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) combined with scaling and root planing (SRP) in untreated periodontitis stage III and IV. Methods: Forty patients were randomly assigned to the test group receiving SRP plus omega-3 PUFAs (n = 20) or control group receiving SRP alone (n = 20). Clinical changes of pocket probing depths (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), bleeding on probing (BOP) and rates of closed pockets (PPD ≤ 4 mm without BOP) were evaluated at baseline and after 3 and 6 months. Phorphyromonas gingivalis, Tanarella forsythia, Treponema denticola and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans counts were analysed at baseline and at 6 months. Serum was subjected to lipid gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis at baseline and at 6 months. Results: Significant improvement of all clinical parameters at 3 and 6 months was observed in both groups. For the primary outcome “change of mean PD,” no significant difference was detected between the groups. Patients treated with omega-3 PUFAs demonstrated significantly lower rates of BOP, higher gain of CAL and higher number of closed pockets at 3 months in comparison to the control group. After 6 months, no clinical differences between the groups were found, with the exception of lower BOP rates. Moreover, in the test group, the number of key periodontal bacteria was significantly lower than in the control group at 6 months. Increased proportions of serum n-3 PUFAs and decreased proportions of n-6 PUFAs were detected at 6 months in the patients from the test group. Conclusion: High-dose omega-3 PUFA intake during non-surgical treatment of periodontitis results in short-term clinical and microbiological benefits. The study protocol was approved by the ethical committee of Medical University of Lodz (reference number RNN/251/17/KE) and registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04477395) on 20/07/2020.

Prolonging crops’ shelf-life while retaining their high quality is a major issue related to postharvest management. During storage, fruits and vegetables are exposed to microbial attacks, which may cause spoilage. Crop deterioration causes the loss of physical properties and drops in quality and nutritional value. Hence, new techniques to improve the resistance of food products are being explored. One promising technique is fumigation. Essential oils and their constituents, due to their antimicrobial properties, are likely to be used as fumigants, as they are highly volatile, effective in low concentrations, biodegradable, and safe. Papers indicate that some of them can improve their quality by increasing the content of antioxidants. This comprehensive review aims to present the current state of knowledge about the influence of essential oil fumigation on crop quality. It covers antioxidant capacity, the content of some bioactive compounds, physicochemical properties, decay properties, and sensory attributes of fruits and vegetables treated with essential oil vapors. The review indicates that this technique might be an interesting field for further exploration due to the promising results presented in the studies. Moreover, the review presents major objectives for current studies and indicates a lack of recent papers in this field.