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Fig. 1 | Journal of Neuroinflammation

Fig. 1

From: Role of dietary fatty acids in microglial polarization in Alzheimer’s disease

Fig. 1

Overview of fatty acids affecting inflammatory and phagocytic pathways. AD is associated with the presence of Aβ, neurofibrillary tangles of Tau protein, and excessive accumulation of glia cells, which produce neuroinflammation. Along with the accumulation of proteins, neuroinflammation acts as one of the triggers for neuronal damage. In this figure, the role of fatty acids in affecting the important functional pathways of microglia is summarized. Saturated fatty acids (palmitic acid, stearic acid) and omega-6 unsaturated fatty acids (arachidonic acid, linoleic acid) cause inflammatory pathway activation in microglia that is observed through hike in pro-inflammatory cytokine expression (IL-1β, TNF-α) and activation of NF-κB pathway through TLR-4 signaling. Omega-6 fatty acids also tend to increase neuroinflammation, which eventually leads to Tau phosphorylation and its aggregation, whereas omega-3 fatty acids influence phagocytic phenotype in microglia cells in the brain and show anti-inflammatory properties by reducing expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, TNF-α), NF-κB pathway expression, and increased IKB expression and influence Aβ and Tau phagocytosis in microglia. The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids also decides the occurrence of inflammatory pathway or phagocytic pathway depending upon their dietary ratios

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