Arachidonic Acid and Early Human Growth: Is there a Relation?

Abstract

Growth failure is a classical sign of essential fatty acid deficiency. We investigated whether birth weight correlates with the postnatal essential fatty acid status in a group of 29 premature infants. A significant and positive correlation between body weight and plasma triglyceride content of arachidonic acid (20:4n-6) (r = 0.47, p = 0.01) and total ω-6 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (r = 0.49, p < 0.01) was found. In contrast, there was no positive relation to linoleic acid (18:2n-6) or any ω-3 fatty acid but a significant inverse correlation to α-linolenic acid (18:3n-3). We propose that during early life arachidonic acid may have a growth-promoting effect which could be related to its role as an eicosanoid precursor or to its structural function in membrane lipids.

Effects of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation in pregnancy on maternal and fetal erythrocyte fatty acid composition

“…This pattern of selective effects on n-6 PUFA is consistent with previous studies (van Houwelingen et al, 1995). While AA status has been correlated to birth weight in preterm infants (Koletzko & Braun, 1991;Carlson et al, 1993), suggesting an association with intrauterine growth (Woltil et al, 1998), the present study found no relationship between the proportion of AA in neonatal erythrocytes and birth weight or birth length. Competition for the D-6-desaturase enzyme utilised in the metabolism of both LA to AA and EPA to DHA (Sprecher, 2000) is believed to be responsible for the low plasma AA found when fish oil is consumed (Garg et al, 1990).…”

Fatty acid composition in maternal milk and plasma during supplementation with cod liver oil

“…Linear trend test on differences between day 14 and baseline values showed a positive relationship between AA content in breast milk and intake of cod liver oil, but the trend test failed to show any relationship between area under the curve for AA and intake of cod liver oil. This is especially important since two studies of premature infants have suggested that AA is an important nutrient for optimal growth during early life (Koletzko & Braun, 1991;Carlson et al, 1992).…”

A multidisciplinary reconstruction of Palaeolithic nutrition that holds promise for the prevention and treatment of diseases of civilisation

“…AA and DHA in premature and low-birth-weight infants correlated positively with anthropometrics, AA to increased birth weight (389) and DHA to prolonged gestation (390 -392) . Studies with supplementation of DHA during pregnancy yielded, for example, evidence for: (i) the maturation of the brain, visual system and retina of the newborn at 2·5 and 4 months, but not at 6 months (393 -397) ; (ii) increased problem solving at 9 months but no difference in memory (398) ; and (iii) superior eye-hand coordination at 2·5 years (399) and higher intelligence quotient at 4 years (400) but not at 7 years of age (401) .…”