Source: Annual Congress 2002 - Early influences on respiratory health and disease
Disease area: Airway diseases, Paediatric lung diseases

Abstract

It has been proposed that an excess of dietary n-6 fatty acids and/or a deficit of dietary n-3 fatty acids may increase the risk of asthma and other atopic diseases. Few studies have explored the relation between the level of prenatal exposure to n-6 and n-3 fatty acids and the development of wheezing and eczema in early childhood.
In the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children we measured the associations of n-6 and n-3 fatty acid precursors and their products (expressed as percent of total red cell phospholipid) in umbilical cord blood and in maternal blood during late pregnancy, with eczema at 18-30 months (n=1238 (cord), n=2945 (maternal)) and with wheezing up to 30-42 months (n=1191 (cord), n=2764 (maternal)). We used logistic regression to measure odds ratios per doubling of fatty acid percentages and their ratios, controlling for potential confounders.
Cord and maternal red cell n-6 and n-3 fatty acids showed little or no association with wheezing or eczema, with the possible exception of cord red cell arachidonic acid/eicosapentaenoic acid ratio with eczema (adjusted odds ratio 1.14 (95% CI: 1.00 to 1.31); P=0.044).
These findings provide little support for the hypothesis that prenatal n-6:n-3 fatty acid balance influences the inception of atopic disease in early childhood.

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R. B. Newson, S. O. Shaheen, A. J. Henderson, P. M. Emmett, A. M. Sherriff, D. F. Horrobin, P. C. Calder, J. Golding, P. G. J. Burney (London, Bristol, Stirling, Southampton, United Kingdom). Umbilical cord blood and maternal blood n6 and n3 fatty acids and risk of wheezing and eczema in early childhood: a birth cohort study. Eur Respir J 2002; 20: Suppl. 38, 1132

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