TY - JOUR
T1 - The association of maternal polyunsaturated fatty acids during pregnancy with social competence and problem behaviours at 7 years of age
T2 - The MEFAB cohort
AU - Tore, E. C.
AU - Gielen, M.
AU - Antoniou, E. E.
AU - de Groot, R. H. M.
AU - Godschalk, R. W. L.
AU - Southwood, T. R.
AU - Smits, L.
AU - Stratakis, N.
AU - van de Wurff, I. S. M.
AU - Zeegers, M. P.
N1 - Funding Information:
The MEFAB cohort was financially supported by the Dutch organization for Scientific Research (NWO, grant number 904 62 186 ) and by the University Hospital of Maastricht, The Netherlands (Profilerings Fonds). The blinded fatty acid analyses were financed by Royal Numico , Wageningen, The Netherlands .
Funding Information:
Authors wish to thank Professor Emeritus Gerard Hornstra, who made the MEFAB study possible, all families for participating in this study, and the Master student Ayodele Fela Thomis for her preliminary work. The MEFAB cohort was financially supported by the Dutch organization for Scientific Research(NWO, grant number 904 62 186) and by the University Hospital of Maastricht, The Netherlands (Profilerings Fonds). The blinded fatty acid analyses were financed by Royal Numico, Wageningen, The Netherlands. Authors declare no conflict of interest.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019
PY - 2019/5
Y1 - 2019/5
N2 - Background The prenatal exposure to maternal n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) might influence the development of social competence and internalizing and externalizing behaviours of the child, because of the numerous functions of PUFAs within the nervous system.Methods: To analyse the association of selected maternal PUFAs (i.e., AA, EPA, DHA, total n-6, total n-3, and the n-6:n-3 ratio) measured during gestation with childhood social competence and problem behaviours, we examined 311 mother-child pairs from the Maastricht Essential Fatty Acid Birth (MEFAB) cohort. For each woman, PUFA-specific changes in relative concentrations were calculated by identifying the best-fitting curve of PUFA concentration by linear splines of gestational age. The associations of changes in maternal PUFAs in early and late pregnancy with childhood social competence, total problems, internalizing and externalizing behaviours, measured with the Child Behaviour Checklist 4/18 at age 7, were investigated with linear regression analyses adjusted for maternal and children's socio-demographic characteristics.Results: In late gestation (i.e., from gestational week 30), an increase in AA was associated with higher social competence, while a decrease in total n-6 was associated with lower externalizing behaviours. No other significant associations were found.Discussion: In this prospective study, increasing maternal AA and decreasing total n-6 were associated with improved social competence and externalizing behaviours, respectively, in 7-year old children. Nonetheless, the clinical significance of the identified associations is modest and further investigations are warranted to clarify the relationship between maternal AA and total n-6 during pregnancy and childhood social and behavioural development.
AB - Background The prenatal exposure to maternal n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) might influence the development of social competence and internalizing and externalizing behaviours of the child, because of the numerous functions of PUFAs within the nervous system.Methods: To analyse the association of selected maternal PUFAs (i.e., AA, EPA, DHA, total n-6, total n-3, and the n-6:n-3 ratio) measured during gestation with childhood social competence and problem behaviours, we examined 311 mother-child pairs from the Maastricht Essential Fatty Acid Birth (MEFAB) cohort. For each woman, PUFA-specific changes in relative concentrations were calculated by identifying the best-fitting curve of PUFA concentration by linear splines of gestational age. The associations of changes in maternal PUFAs in early and late pregnancy with childhood social competence, total problems, internalizing and externalizing behaviours, measured with the Child Behaviour Checklist 4/18 at age 7, were investigated with linear regression analyses adjusted for maternal and children's socio-demographic characteristics.Results: In late gestation (i.e., from gestational week 30), an increase in AA was associated with higher social competence, while a decrease in total n-6 was associated with lower externalizing behaviours. No other significant associations were found.Discussion: In this prospective study, increasing maternal AA and decreasing total n-6 were associated with improved social competence and externalizing behaviours, respectively, in 7-year old children. Nonetheless, the clinical significance of the identified associations is modest and further investigations are warranted to clarify the relationship between maternal AA and total n-6 during pregnancy and childhood social and behavioural development.
KW - Prenatal programming
KW - Developmental origins of health and disease
KW - Biomarkers
KW - Polyunsaturated fatty acids
KW - Problem behaviours
KW - Social competence
KW - DOCOSAHEXAENOIC ACID
KW - PHOSPHOLIPIDS
KW - PLASMA
KW - HEALTH
KW - SUPPLEMENTATION
KW - CONSUMPTION
U2 - 10.1016/j.plefa.2019.04.002
DO - 10.1016/j.plefa.2019.04.002
M3 - Article
C2 - 31088621
SN - 0952-3278
VL - 144
SP - 1
EP - 9
JO - Prostaglandins Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids
JF - Prostaglandins Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids
ER -