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Essential fatty acids in breast milk of atopic mothers: comparison with non-atopic mothers, and effect of borage oil supplementation

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 54, pages 234–238 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate whether levels of n-6 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPs) in human breast milk are related to the mother’s atopic constitution, and whether a decreased level can be restored by gamma-linolenic acid supplementation.

Design: Cross-sectional study and dietary supplementation trial.

Subjects: 20 atopic mothers and 20 non-atopic mothers (controls), all lactating.

Setting: General population.

Interventions: The atopic mothers were randomly assigned to low (n=10) or high (n=10) dosage oral supplementation with oral borage oil for one week (230 or 460 mg gamma-linolenic acid (18:3n-6) per day).

Main outcome measures: Essential fatty acid composition of the breast milk total fat fraction, determined by gas liquid chromatography.

Results: Arachidonic acid (20:4n-6) was lower in breast milk of atopic mothers compared with non-atopic mothers (0.39 wt% vs 0.46 wt%, difference −0.07% wt% (95% confidence limits −0.13, −0.01 wt%; P<0.05). The ratio between linoleic acid and the sum of n-6 derivatives did not differ between these groups, indicating no difference in delta-6-desaturase (D6D) activity. Supplementation of the atopic mothers significantly increased the levels of gamma-linolenic acid and dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid in breast milk in a dose-related way, but the level of arachidonic acid was not increased.

Conclusion: We found a decreased level of arachidonic acid in breast milk in atopic compared to non-atopic mothers, but no indication that the rate-limiting enzymatic step (D6D) is involved. Supplementation increased the precursor pool but did not restore the level of arachidonic acid. We conclude that atopy is related to a metabolic disturbance beyond the D6D enzymatic step. A low level of arachidonic acid in breast milk may be a risk factor for the development of atopy in the infant, especially when the possible underlying metabolic disturbance of EFA metabolism is inherited by the child.

Sponsorship: F Hoffman-La Roche (Basel, Switzerland) and Friesland Dairy Foods (Leeuwarden, The Netherlands).

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2000) 54, 234–238

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, Toxicology and Environment Research Institute Maastricht (NUTRIM), Maastricht University, The Netherlands

    C Thijs, I Poorterman, A Mordant & P van den Brandt

  2. Department of Human Biology, Nutrition, Toxicology and Environment Research Institute Maastricht (NUTRIM), Maastricht University, The Netherlands

    A van Houwelingen

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  1. C Thijs
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  2. A van Houwelingen
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  3. I Poorterman
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  4. A Mordant
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  5. P van den Brandt
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Contributions

Guarantor: C. Thijs

Contributors: CT was project leader, responsible for design and organization of the study, supervision of the field work and data analysis, and completion of the manuscript. AvH was responsible for supervision of laboratory analyses. IP was a research fellow and carried out field work, analysis and preparation of the manuscript. AM is a dietician and carried out field work. PvdB supervised the project.

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Correspondence to C Thijs.

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Thijs, C., van Houwelingen, A., Poorterman, I. et al. Essential fatty acids in breast milk of atopic mothers: comparison with non-atopic mothers, and effect of borage oil supplementation. Eur J Clin Nutr 54, 234–238 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1600926

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1600926

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