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Dietary Supplementation of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Caenorhabditis elegans
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Body Composition and Circulating Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids at Age 6 Years: A Longitudinal Pilot Study
Nuria Sanz1, Rita Malpique1,2, Cristina Sierra3
1Endocrinology Department, Pediatric Research Institute Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Esplugues, Spain.
Hormone Research in Paediatrics
|March 7, 2019
Summary
Maternal polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) status during pregnancy did not impact child body composition at age 6. However, maternal and child PUFA levels showed a correlation, possibly due to shared dietary habits.
Area of Science:
- Nutrition Science
- Pediatric Health
- Human Physiology
Background:
- Maternal polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) status during pregnancy is linked to birth outcomes and childhood adiposity.
- Cord blood PUFA levels correlate with maternal PUFA and inversely with newborn abdominal adiposity.
- Longitudinal studies on maternal, cord, and childhood PUFA associations with body composition are limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the longitudinal association between maternal, cord blood, and childhood polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels.
- To examine the correlation of these PUFA levels with body composition and endocrine-metabolic variables in children at age 6 years.
Main Methods:
- A longitudinal study of 16 healthy children, assessed from birth.
- Circulating PUFA levels measured by gas chromatography in maternal, cord, and peripheral blood at age 6.
- Body composition assessed by absorptiometry and endocrine-metabolic variables evaluated at age 6.
Main Results:
- No significant associations were found between maternal, cord, or childhood circulating PUFA levels and body composition or endocrine-metabolic status at age 6.
- Maternal levels of n-6 linoleic acid, total n-6, and the n-6:n-3 ratio correlated with corresponding PUFA levels in children at age 6.
Conclusions:
- In this pilot study, maternal, cord blood, and childhood circulating PUFA do not appear to influence body composition or endocrine-metabolic status at age 6.
- The observed correlation between maternal and child PUFA levels at age 6 may indicate shared nutritional habits.
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