Alteration of erythrocyte membrane polyunsaturated fatty acids in preterm newborns with retinopathy of prematurity

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 9; no. 1; p. 7930
• Main Authors: Pallot, Charlotte, Mazzocco, Julie, Meillon, Cyril, Semama, Denis S., Chantegret, Corinne, Ternoy, Ninon, Martin, Delphine, Donier, Aurélie, Gregoire, Stéphane, Creuzot-Garcher, Catherine P., Bron, Alain M., Bretillon, Lionel, Acar, Niyazi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 28.05.2019; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/45/287/1183; 692/699/3161/3175/3188; Arachidonic acid; Baby foods; Bioavailability; Docosahexaenoic acid; Erythrocyte Membrane - pathology; Erythrocytes; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids, Omega-3 - analysis; Fatty Acids, Omega-6 - analysis; Fatty Acids, Unsaturated - analysis; Female; Food and Nutrition; Gestational Age; Human health and pathology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Premature; Infants; Life Sciences; multidisciplinary; Neonates; Newborn babies; Placenta; Placental transfer; Polyunsaturated fatty acids; Prospective Studies; Retina; Retinopathy; Retinopathy of Prematurity - diagnosis; Retinopathy of Prematurity - pathology; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sensory Organs; Vascularization; fatty acids; retinopathy of prematury
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-44476-w

Extremely preterm infants are at high risk for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a potentially blinding disease characterized by abnormalities in retinal vascularization. Whereas animal studies revealed that n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) may be of benefit in preventing ROP, human studies conducted on preterm infants during the 1 st weeks of life showed no association between blood n-3 PUFA bioavailability and ROP incidence and/or severity, probably because of the influence of nutrition on the lipid status of infants. In the OmegaROP prospective cohort study, we characterized the erythrocyte concentrations of PUFAs in preterm infants aged less than 29 weeks gestational age (GA) without any nutritional influence. We show that GA is positively associated with the erythrocyte n-6 to n-3 PUFA ratio, and particularly with the ratio of arachidonic acid (AA) to docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), in infants with ROP. A time-dependent accumulation of AA at the expense of DHA seems to occur in utero in erythrocytes of preterm infants who will develop ROP, thus reinforcing previous data on the beneficial properties of DHA on this disease. In addition, preliminary data on maternal erythrocyte membrane lipid concentrations suggest modifications in placental transfer of fatty acids. Documenting the erythrocyte AA to DHA ratio at birth in larger cohorts might be useful to set up new prognostic factors for ROP.