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What is the relationship between gestational age and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) levels?

ABSTRACT: Long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) including docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) are increasingly transferred from mother to fetus late in pregnancy. Infants born before this transfer is complete are at risk for deficiency. This study determines the relationship between gestational age (GA) and circulating LCPUFA levels to better understand the unique needs of premature infants born at various GAs. Whole blood was collected within the first 7 days of life from 60 preterm (?34 weeks GA) and 30 term infants (?38 weeks GA) and FA levels were analyzed. Since concurrent intravenous lipid emulsion can skew composition data, blood LCPUFA concentrations were also measured. Levels were compared among groups, and linear regression models were used to examine the association between FA composition and GA. Preterm infants had significantly lower DHA and ARA levels than term peers, and whether assessed as concentrations or compositions, both directly correlated with GA (p<0.0001). Moreover, FA comparisons suggest that premature infants have impaired synthesis of LCPUFAs from precursors and may require preformed DHA and ARA. This study confirms that essential FA status is strongly related to GA, and that those babies born the earliest are at the greatest risk of LCPUFA deficiency.

SUBMITTER: Baack ML

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4554773 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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What is the relationship between gestational age and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) levels?

Baack Michelle L ML Puumala Susan E SE Messier Stephen E SE Pritchett Deborah K DK Harris William S WS

Prostaglandins, leukotrienes, and essential fatty acids 20150617

Long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) including docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) are increasingly transferred from mother to fetus late in pregnancy. Infants born before this transfer is complete are at risk for deficiency. This study determines the relationship between gestational age (GA) and circulating LCPUFA levels to better understand the unique needs of premature infants born at various GAs. Whole blood was collected within the first 7 days of life from 60 p ...[more]

PMID: 26205427

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Project description:Rationale: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in cell membrane may influence breast cancer (BC) patients' prognosis, affecting tumor cells sensitivity to chemo- and radio-therapy and likely modulating inflammation. The possibility of identifying BC patients presenting with low DHA levels and/or low ability of DHA incorporation into cell membrane might help to treat this condition. Methods: We enrolled BC patients and healthy controls, recording their seafood dietary intake. DHA in form of algal oil was administered for 10 consecutive days (2 g/day). Blood samples were collected at baseline (T0) and after 10 days of supplementation (T1) to assess DHA, omega-3 index, as the sum of DHA + eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), in red blood cells (RBC) membranes and plasma tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6 levels. Pre- and post-treatment fatty acid profiles were obtained by gas-chromatography. Parametric and non-parametric tests were performed, as appropriate, and P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Forty-three women were studied, divided into 4 groups: 11 patients with BRCA1/2 gene mutation (M group), 12 patients with familiar positive history for BC (F group), 10 patients with sporadic BC (S group), and 10 healthy controls (C group). DHA and omega-3 index increased from T0 to T1 in the 3 groups of BC patients and in controls (P < 0.001). No difference was found in DHA incorporation between each group of BC patients and between patients and controls, except for M group, which incorporated higher DHA levels with respect to controls (β = 0.42; P = 0.03). No association was documented between cytokines levels and DHA and omega-3 index at baseline and after DHA supplementation. Independent of the presence of BC, women considered as "good seafood consumers" showed at baseline DHA and omega-3 index higher with respect to "low seafood consumers" (P = 0.04; P = 0.007, respectively). After supplementation, the increase in DHA levels was greater in "low seafood consumers" with respect to "good seafood consumers" (P < 0.0001). Conclusion: DHA supplementation was associated with increased DHA levels and omega-3 index in RBC membranes of BC cancer patients, independent of the type of BC presentation, and in controls. BRCA1/2 mutation, as well as low seafood consuming habits in both BC patients and healthy controls, seem to be associated with greater ability of DHA incorporation. Larger samples of BC patients are necessary to confirm our observation.

Project description:BackgroundDocosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is a n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) belonging to a family of biologically active fatty acids (FA), which are known to have numerous health benefits. N-3 PUFAs affect reproduction in cattle, and notably directly affect follicular cells. In terms of reproduction in cattle, n-3 PUFA-enriched diets lead to increased follicle size or numbers.MethodsThe objective of the present study was to analyze the effects of DHA (1, 10, 20 and 50 μM) on proliferation and steroidogenesis (parametric and/or non parametric (permutational) ANOVA) of bovine granulosa cells in vitro and mechanisms of action through protein expression (Kruskal-Wallis) and signaling pathways (non parametric ANOVA) and to investigate whether DHA could exert part of its action through the free fatty acid receptor 4 (FFAR4).ResultsDHA (10 and 50 μM) increased granulosa cell proliferation and DHA 10 μM led to a corresponding increase in proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression level. DHA also increased progesterone secretion at 1, 20 and 50 μM, and estradiol secretion at 1, 10 and 20 μM. Consistent increases in protein levels were also reported for the steroidogenic enzymes, cytochrome P450 family 11 subfamily A member 1 (CYP11A1) and hydroxy-delta-5-steroid dehydrogenase, 3 beta- and steroid delta-isomerase 1 (HSD3B1), and of the cholesterol transporter steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), which are necessary for production of progesterone or androstenedione. FFAR4 was expressed in all cellular types of bovine ovarian follicles, and in granulosa cells it was localized close to the cellular membrane. TUG-891 treatment (1 and 50 μM), a FFAR4 agonist, increased granulosa cell proliferation and MAPK14 phosphorylation in a similar way to that observed with DHA treatment. However, TUG-891 treatment (1, 10 and 50 μM) showed no effect on progesterone or estradiol secretion.ConclusionsThese data show that DHA stimulated proliferation and steroidogenesis of bovine granulosa cells and led to MAPK14 phosphorylation. FFAR4 involvement in DHA effects requires further investigation, even if our data might suggest FFAR4 role in DHA effects on granulosa cell proliferation. Other mechanisms of DHA action should be investigated as the steroidogenic effects seemed to be independent of FFAR4 activation.

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What is the relationship between gestational age and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) levels?

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What is the relationship between gestational age and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) levels?

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