Maternal fish oil supplementation in lactation: effect on developmental outcome in breast-fed infants

Abstract

-Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) accumulates in the brain during the 1st and 2nd years of life. The objective of this study was to see if an increased content of DHA in breast-milk via maternal fish oil (FO)-supplementation affects mental development in term infants. one hundred twenty-two Danish mothers with a habitual fish intake below the population median were randomized to 4.5 g·d -1 of FO or olive oil (OO) for the first four months of lactation. Fifty-three mothers with habitual fish intake in the highest quartile were included as reference group. The effect of the resulting increase in infant DHA-intake and RBC-DHA level was assessed on problem solving ability at nine months and language at one and two years of age. Infants in the three groups performed equally well on the problem test and no association was observed between problem solving and erythrocyte-DHA at four months. Passive vocabulary at one year was lower in the children of the FO-compared with the OOgroup (P < 0.05), but no differences were found at two years of age. Word comprehension at one year was inversely associated with erythrocyte-DHA at four months. The trial indicate a small effect of DHA levels in breast-milk on early language development of breast-fed infants.docosahexaenoic acid / breast-milk / infant development / long-chain n-3 fatty acid / optimal dietary intake Abbreviations: AA: arachidonic acid; CDI: communicative development inventory; DHA: docosahexaenoic acid; FO: fish oil; LCPUFA: long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid; OO: olive oil; PUFA: polyunsaturated fatty acid; RBC: red blood cells.

Mildly abnormal general movement quality in infants is associated with higher Mead acid and lower arachidonic acid and shows a U-shaped relation with the DHA/AA ratio

“…In addition, Church et al [41] showed that excess as well as deficient n-3 fatty acid intakes during pregnancy and lactation cause impaired neural transmission in rats [41]. In human infants, negative associations between higher DHA intakes and verbal skills have been reported [42,43]. What brain areas are involved in the ascending part of the curve might become suggested from studies in newborn baboons.…”

Reduced auditory acuity in rat pups from excess and deficient omega-3 fatty acid consumption by the mother

“…Some of these studies have ruled out confounding variables such as maternal size, age, parity, health, smoking and alcohol consumption [18,21] as well as methylmercury and other contaminants [17]. Adverse effects from excess ω-3 FA consumption by infants through infant formulas that are fortified with ω-3 FA include reduced body growth and head circumference [10,12], decreased blood arachidonic acid (AA) levels [7] and decreased verbal skills [26,42]. Two studies found prolonged ABR latencies in the children born to women who consumed large amounts of seafood [27][28].…”

Meta-analysis of Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Supplementation of Formula and Infant Cognition

“…17 An estimated 30-fold increase in the amount of DHA and AA in the infant forebrain occurs between the last trimester of pregnancy and the first 2 years of life. 18,19 A series of randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trials have been conducted in recent years to determine whether infants fed formula supplemented with LCPUFAs would have improved performance on measures of cognition compared with infants fed typical formula. Results of these trials have varied widely, with some trials demonstrating improved cognitive abilitiesin infantsfed formula supplemented with LCPUFAs 14,20-23 and other trials demonstrating no effect.…”