High-dose human albumin therapy is strongly neuroprotective in models of brain ischemia and trauma and is currently being studied in a pilot-phase clinical stroke trial. Among its actions in ischemia, albumin induces the systemic mobilization of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and may help to replenish polyunsaturated fatty acids lost from neural membranes.', 'We complexed 25% human albumin to docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n-3) and compared its neuroprotective efficacy with that of native albumin in rats with 2-hour focal ischemia produced by intraluminal suture-occlusion of the middle cerebral artery.', 'In animals treated with DHA-albumin, 0.63 g/kg, the improvement in neurobehavioral scores at 72 hours significantly exceeded that of other treatment groups, and the extent of histological protection (86% reduction in cortical infarction) was highly significant and tended to surpass the degree of cortical protection produced by native albumin at 1.25 g/kg (65%). DHA-albumin 0.63 g/kg, but not native albumin, also significantly reduced subcortical infarction and markedly diminished brain swelling. Lipidomic analysis of DHA-albumin-treated postischemic brains revealed a large accumulation of the neuroprotective DHA metabolite, 10,17S-docosatriene, in the ipsilateral hemisphere.
Does docosahexaenoic acid complexed to albumin elicit high-grade ischemic neuroprotection?