INCREASED DOCOSAHEXAENOIC ACID LEVELS IN HUMAN NEWBORN-INFANTS BY ADMINISTRATION OF SARDINES AND FISH-OIL DURING PREGNANCY

In rhesus monkeys, maternal n-3 fatty acid deficiency during pregnancy produces infant monkeys deficient in n-3 fatty acids at birth. These results stimulated current experiments to find out if n-3 fatty acids from fish in the diets of pregnant women would influence the concentra tion of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6 n-3) in the newborn human infa nt. Fifteen healthy pregnant women were enrolled to receive a 9-wk die tary supplementation of n-3 fatty acids from the 26th to the 35th wk o f pregnancy. Sixteen pregnant women were not supplemented and served a s controls. n-3 Fatty acid supplementation consisted of sardines and a dditional fish oil, which provided a total of 2.6 g of n-3 fatty acids per day (d) for the 9-wk period of supplementation. This included 1.0 1 g DHA. The end point of this study was the blood concentrations of D HA in the newborn infant. DHA in maternal red blood cells increased fr om 4.69% of total fatty acids to 7.15% at the end of the supplement pe riod and at the time of delivery decreased (as expected) to 5.97% of t otal fatty acids. Maternal plasma showed a similar change from 2.12 to 3.51% of total fatty acids and then decreased to 2.35%. Levels of DHA in plasma and red blood cells of unsupplemented mothers did not chang e during the same time period. Levels of DHA in blood of newborn infan ts differed greatly in infants born from n3-supplemented mothers compa red with control infants. In red blood cells, DHA was 7.92% of total f atty acids compared with 5.86% (control infants). Plasma values showed a similar difference: 5.05% vs. 3.47% (controls). In n-3-supplemented infants, DHA concentrations were 35.2% higher than in control infants in red blood cells and 45.5% higher in plasma. These data indicate th e importance of maternal dietary n-3 fatty acids and, in particular, m aternal dietary DHA in promoting higher concentrations of DHA in the b lood of the newborn infant.