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Fish oil supplementation improves visual evoked potentials in children with phenylketonuria
S Beblo1, H Reinhardt, A C Muntau
1Division of Metabolic Diseases and Nutrition, Dr. von Haunersches Kinderspital, Munich, Germany.
Abstract:
Visual evoked potentials (VEP) were measured in 36 patients with early-treated phenylketonuria (PKU; aged 1 to 11 years) and good metabolic control before and after supplementation with omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) from fish oil. Patients with PKU had significantly longer P100 latencies than 22 age-matched control subjects. After 3 months of LC-PUFA supplementation, VEP latencies improved significantly in PKU patients but did not change in 12 untreated healthy children. The authors conclude that omega-3 LC-PUFA are essential substrates for nervous system function even beyond infancy.