The effect of supplementation with docosahexaenoic and arachidonic acid derived from single cell oils on plasma and erythrocyte fatty acids of pregnant women in the second trimester

This study was performed to investigate whether supplementation of docosahe xaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (AA) to pregnant women would enhanc e their DHA levels, both in plasma and in erythrocyte phospholipids, withou t reducing the content of n-6 long-chain ployenes (LCP) usually seen when D HA is supplemented alone. Healthy pregnant women, in the second trimester, were randomly assigned to either the control group (n=12) or the interventi on group (n=12). The control group received no supplements and the interven tion group received daily during 4 weeks encapsulated algae-derived DHA oil (0.57 g DHA/day) and fungal-derived AA oil (0.26 g AA/day). The fatty acid compositions of plasma and erythrocyte phospholipids were determined in we ekly-collected blood samples. DHA and n-6 LCP levels of the control group w ere unchanged after 4 weeks. Compared to the control group, DHA levels in p lasma an erythrocytes of the intervention group increased significantly. No significant reductions were found in the levels of AA and total n-6 LCP. T he supplement proved to be effective in increasing the DHA levels in both p lasma and erythrocyte without a concomitant decline of the n-6 LCP. (C) 200 0 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.