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Maternal nutrition, infants and children

Fatty-acid composition of maternal and umbilical cord plasma and early childhood atopic eczema in a Spanish cohort

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 67, pages 658–663 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objectives:

Fatty-acid status during in-utero development might influence the risk of atopic diseases in early childhood. The aim of this work was to identify the relationship between maternal plasma and cord blood fatty acid (FA) composition and the risk of atopic eczema in the offspring at 14 months of age.

Subjects/methods:

Two hundred and eleven non-atopic mothers and their children were studied. Mothers were recruited in their first trimester of gestation and children were monitored until 14 months of age. Samples of maternal plasma and cord blood plasma were analyzed to determine the FA profile of total lipids. Presence of atopic eczema in the infants was documented through questionnaires at 6 and 14 months of age.

Results:

Higher concentrations of total long-chain polyunsaturated FA (LC-PUFA) were found in maternal plasma of non-atopic children in relation to atopic group. Moreover, this maternal plasma LC-PUFA content was negatively correlated with the atopic eczema (odds ratios (OR)=0.83, P=0.04) in infants. Regarding cord blood samples, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA C22:6n3) and the sum of total n-3 and of LC-PUFA n-3 showed a negative correlation with the prevalence of the disease (OR=0.50, 0.49 and 0.49, respectively).

Conclusions:

Our results show that the fatty-acid status of the fetus during pregnancy has an important role in the development of atopic eczema in early childhood. The prevalence of this atopic disorder is related to lower cord blood plasma levels of FA belonging to n-3 series, especially DHA.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for the financial support of research project AGL2009-09730/ALI. R Montes thanks the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for the post-doctoral Juan de la Cierva fellowship and AM Chisaguano is grateful for the FPI pre-doctoral grant. We also extend our gratitude to the study participants for their generous contribution and are also thankful to Silvia Fochs, Anna Sánchez and Núria Pey for their assistance in contacting the families, administering the questionnaires and obtaining the blood samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    R Montes, A M Chisaguano, A I Castellote & M C López-Sabater

  2. CIBER in Epidemiology and Public Health, Spain

    A I Castellote & M C López-Sabater

  3. CREAL (Center for Research on Environmental Epidemiology), Barcelona, Spain

    E Morales & J Sunyer

  4. Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain

    J Sunyer

  5. Parc Salut Mar—IMIM, Barcelona, Spain

    J Sunyer

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  1. R Montes
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Correspondence to M C López-Sabater.

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Montes, R., Chisaguano, A., Castellote, A. et al. Fatty-acid composition of maternal and umbilical cord plasma and early childhood atopic eczema in a Spanish cohort. Eur J Clin Nutr 67, 658–663 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2013.68

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