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Nervonic Acid for Human Health
Summary
Nervonic acid is an essential fatty acid which helps to maintain brain health by assisting in the biosynthesis and maintenance of nerve cell myelin. There is increasing interest in the use of nervonic acid for the treatment of neurological diseases associated with dementia, primarily; Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis and adrenoleukodistrophy. Nervonic acid is a natural component of human breast milk and is currently being used as a supplement for infant formula to aid cerebral development in children under the age of five.
National Research Council of Canada's Plant Biotechnology Institute has successfully transformed Brassica carinata with a fatty acid elongase (FAE) gene from Lunaria annua and Cardamine graeca. The transformed plants produced nervonic acid at 40% of total seed oil content. Development of this technology may constitute an economically efficient source for commercial scale production of nervonic acid for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications.
