Plasma Inflammatory and Vascular Homeostasis Biomarkers Increase During Human Pregnancy but Are Not Affected by Oily Fish Intake

Abstract

The Salmon in Pregnancy Study investigated whether the increased consumption of (n-3) long-chain PUFA (LC-PUFA) from farmed Atlantic salmon affects immune function during pregnancy and atopic disease in neonates compared with a habitual diet low in oily fish. In this context, because the ingestion of (n-3) LC-PUFA may lower the concentrations of inflammatory biomarkers, we investigated whether the consumption of oily fish affects the levels of inflammatory cytokines and vascular adhesion factors during pregnancy. Pregnant women (n = 123) were randomly assigned to continue their habitual diet (control group, n = 61), which was low in oily fish, or to consume two 150-g salmon portions/wk (salmon group, n = 62; providing 3.45 g EPA plus DHA) from 20 wk of gestation until delivery. Plasma inflammatory cytokines and vascular adhesion factors were measured in maternal plasma samples. Inflammatory biomarkers, including IL-8, hepatocyte growth factor, and monocyte chemotactic protein, increased over the course of pregnancy (P < 0.001), whereas plasma matrix metalloproteinase 9, IL-6, TNFα, and nerve growth factor concentrations were not affected. Vascular homeostasis biomarkers soluble E-selectin, soluble vascular adhesion molecule-1, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule (sICAM)-1, and total plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 increased as pregnancy progressed (P < 0.001). The plasma sICAM-1 concentration was greater in the control group than in the salmon group at wk 20 (baseline) and 38 (P = 0.007) but there was no group x time interaction, and when baseline concentration was used as a covariate, the groups did not differ (P = 0.69). The remaining biomarkers analyzed were similar in both groups. Therefore, although some inflammatory and vascular homeostasis biomarkers change during pregnancy, they are not affected by the increased intake of farmed salmon.

Omega-3 fatty acids and leukocyte-endothelium adhesion: Novel anti-atherosclerotic actions

“…However some studies did see significant decreases [68,70] with only one study reporting a significant increase in serum sICAM-1 levels after supplementation [73]. There are also mixed reports from those studies which examined sE-selectin levels after supplementation: the majority of studies reported no changes [68,75,86,88], although some reported significant decreases in healthy adults and children [70,87], whilst one study described an increase [75]. Lastly all but one study reported no change in sVCAM-1 levels after n-3 PUFA supplementation [68-70, 73, 75, 86-88].…”

“…Several studies in healthy male and female subjects saw no changes in plasma or serum levels of sICAM-1, sVCAM-1, sE-selectin or sP-selectin with n-3 PUFAs, although some did report reductions. Of those studies which reported sICAM-1 levels after n-3 PUFA supplementation in healthy subjects, the majority reported no changes [69,71,73,75,86,88]. However some studies did see significant decreases [68,70] with only one study reporting a significant increase in serum sICAM-1 levels after supplementation [73].…”

“…Another study looked at the effects of a fatty fish diet in pregnant women [88]. 123 pregnant women were either to continue their habitual diet or given 2 x 150 g salmon portions a week (3.45 g/week EPA+DHA) from 20 weeks of gestation until delivery.…”

Consumption of fish and vascular risk factors: A systematic review and meta-analysis of intervention studies

“…protocols (Table 1). Four studies originated from the United Kingdom [15][16][17][18]; two from the USA [5,19], Norway [20,21], China [22,23] and Australia [24,25]; one study from Sweden [26], Denmark [27] and Spain [28]; and a collaborative study from Iceland/Spain/Ireland [29,30].…”

Cytokines and Maternal Omega-3 LCPUFAs Supplementation

“…Cytokines TNF-α and IL-1 are heavily involved in the inflammatory processes associated with pregnancy and labour [10,12,13], although an increase in inflammatory biomarkers such as IL-8, hepatocyte growth factor and monocyte chemotactic protein during pregnancy have also been demonstrated. There is also a progressive increase in vascular biomarkers, such as E-Selectin, vascular adhesion molecule 1, intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM) 1, and plasminogen activator-inhibitor 1 [126]. Other studies have suggested that an abnormal response from cytokines and other molecules such as leptin may be involved in the pathophysiology of pregnancy-related complications such as preeclampsia.…”