Salmon Consumption during Pregnancy Alters Fatty Acid Composition and Secretory IgA Concentration in Human Breast Milk

Abstract

Fish oil supplementation during pregnancy alters breast milk composition, but there is little information about the impact of oily fish consumption. We determined whether increased salmon consumption during pregnancy alters breast milk fatty acid composition and immune factors. Women (n = 123) who rarely ate oily fish were randomly assigned to consume their habitual diet or to consume 2 portions of farmed salmon per week from 20 wk of pregnancy until delivery. The salmon provided 3.45 g long-chain (LC) (n-3) PUFA/wk. Breast milk fatty acid composition and immune factors [soluble CD14, transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ)1, TGFβ2, and secretory IgA] were analyzed at 1, 5, 14, and 28 d postpartum (PP). Breast milk from the salmon group had higher proportions of EPA (80%), docosapentaenoic acid (30%), and DHA (90%) on d 5 PP compared with controls (P < 0.01). The LC (n-6) PUFA:LC (n-3) PUFA ratio was lower for the salmon group on all days of PP sampling (P ≤ 0.004), although individual (n-6) PUFA proportions, including arachidonic acid, did not differ. All breast milk immune factors decreased between d 1 and 28 PP (P < 0.001). Breast milk secretory IgA (sIgA) was lower in the salmon group (d 1-28 PP; P = 0.006). Salmon consumption during pregnancy, at the current recommended intakes, increases the LC (n-3) PUFA concentration of breast milk in early lactation, thus improving the supply of these important fatty acids to the breast-fed neonate. The consequence of the lower breast milk concentration of sIgA in the salmon group is not clear.

Are we what we eat? Changes to the feed fatty acid composition of farmed salmon and its effects through the food chain

“…) Both lean and oily fish decreased plasma TAG Miles et al, 2011;Urwin et al, 2012Urwin et al, , 2014Noakes et al, 2012 Investigation of the impact of salmon in pregnancy; diet ingredients for the farmed salmon were specifically selected to be low in contaminants ( The salmon diet increased EPA and DHA in plasma PC in maternal blood, umbilical cord blood and breast milk, and decreased secretory IgA in breast milk (immunological factor provided in the milk). Maternal salmon consumption did not affect maternal or infant fecal microbiota or infant fecal IgA.…”

Current Information and Asian Perspectives on Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Pregnancy, Lactation, and Infancy: Systematic Review and Practice Recommendations from an Early Nutrition Academy Workshop

“…All of these studies reported some positive findings on selected immune markers and/or the incidence of (allergic) diseases in the children of supplemented mothers. Supplementation with LC-PUFA or consumption of 2 portions of oily fish/week during pregnancy resulted in improvements in neonatal [50,51,52,53] and maternal [53,54] immune responses, with attenuation of allergic inflammation, perhaps influenced by the infant allergic status.…”

Factors affecting breast milk composition and potential consequences for development of the allergic phenotype

“…leads to a higher proportion of individual and total n-3 PUFA in BM during early lactation and a lower ratio of n-6 : n-3 PUFA as well as lower sIgA levels (127).…”