Polyunsaturated fatty acids in maternal diet, breast milk, and serum lipidfatty acids of infants in relation to atopy

Background: The increased consumption of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (P UFA) has been shown to coincide with the increased prevalence of atopic dis eases. We aimed to investigate whether maternal diet and atopic status infl uence the PUFA composition of breast milk and the serum lipid fatty acids o f infants. Methods: Maternal diet was assessed by a food questionnaire. The PUFA compo sition of breast milk obtained at 3 months from 20 allergic and 20 healthy mothers and of their infants' (10 atopic and 10 nonatopic/group of mothers) serum lipids was analyzed. Results: Although no differences in maternal PUFA intake were observed, the breast milk of allergic mothers contained less gamma -linolenic acid (18:3 n-6) than that of healthy mothers. Similarly, atopic infants had less gamm a -linolenic acid in phospholipids than healthy infants, although n-6 PUFA were elevated in other serum lipid fractions in atopic infants. The serum l ipid fatty acids in atopic infants did not correlate with those in maternal breast milk. Conclusions: Our results suggest that dietary n-6 PUFA are not as readily t ransferred into breast milk or incorporated into serum phospholipids, but m ay be utilized for other purposes, such as eicosanoid precursors, in allerg ic/atopic individuals. Subsequently, high dietary proportions of n-6 PUFA, or reduced proportions of regulatory PUFA, such as gamma -linolenic acid an d n-3 PUFA, may be a risk factor for the development of atopic disease.