Fatty acid profiling in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease, affecting motor neurons, which is characterized by the progressive loss of motor function. Sufficient evidence has been gathered, either in the form of experimental results from animal disease models or from the assessment of affected human subjects, which implicates metabolic changes in the course of ALS. Hypermetabolism, abnormal glucose tolerance and dyslipidaemia were reported to have high incidence in ALS patients. In fact, according to published studies, BMI is significantly and inversely associated with ALS progression. Here, we discuss basic principles of fatty acid metabolism, composition and the existing knowledge of metabolic and fatty acid composition changes in ALS patients. Literature data suggest that ALS patients have unfavorable changes in the fatty acid profile, especially because of the low level of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids. Nutritional interventions and supplementation with various foods or food supplements are currently not showing conclusive results, implying there is more to learn about potential ways to modify this illness.