Maternal characteristics influence response to DHA during pregnancy

The Influence of DHA on Language Development: A Review of Randomized Controlled Trials of DHA Supplementation in Pregnancy, the Neonatal Period, and Infancy

“…The 10 trials of maternal prenatal DHA supplementation showed no overall significant differences between treatment and control group language development between 18 months and 7 years of age using 35 different assessments of language abilities [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 51 , 52 , 55 , 58 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 94 ].…”

“…Of the 10 prenatal RCTs, two reported conducting a subgroup analysis [ 25 , 52 , 77 , 78 , 94 ]. Subgroup analyses were conducted for sex [ 25 , 77 , 78 ], maternal education [ 94 ], maternal smoking during pregnancy [ 94 ], and stimulation in the home environment [ 52 ].…”

“…Of the 10 prenatal RCTs, two reported conducting a subgroup analysis [ 25 , 52 , 77 , 78 , 94 ]. Subgroup analyses were conducted for sex [ 25 , 77 , 78 ], maternal education [ 94 ], maternal smoking during pregnancy [ 94 ], and stimulation in the home environment [ 52 ]. Subgroup analyses for sex showed poorer language scores, and greater risk of delayed language (score < 85) within girls only at 18 months of age [ 25 ], although no sex by treatment effects were detected in the assessments at 4 and 7 years of age [ 77 , 78 ].…”

A More Comprehensive Approach to the Neuroprotective Potential of Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Preterm Infants Is Needed—Should We Consider Maternal Diet and the n-6:n-3 Fatty Acid Ratio?

“…Some differences in neurodevelopment were noted in this review, but the evidence was graded as low to very low quality (82). Trials of LCPUFA supplementation during pregnancy have also not specifically presented results of neurodevelopment in infants born preterm (83)(84)(85)(86)(87)(88)(89)(90). Two big cohort studies have demonstrated a negative association between n-6:n-3 ratio of maternal intake during pregnancy and neurodevelopment in term infants (91,92).…”

Docosahexaenoic Acid and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Term Infants

“…Herein lies the difficulty in the interpretation of such trials. Such observational studies are unable to establish causality because of the difficulty in adjusting for the complex confounding factors that also influence early child development.To explore this, Gould et al [27] recently conducted an association study to explore what maternal factors influenced DHA status during pregnancy. Their results suggested that responsiveness to prenatal DHA was related to the characteristics of the specific population groups studied.…”