Proportions of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Umbilical Cord Blood at Birth Are Related to Atopic Eczema Development in the First Year of Life

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 13; no. 11; p. 3779
• Main Authors: Barman, Malin, Stråvik, Mia, Broberg, Karin, Sandin, Anna, Wold, Agnes E, Sandberg, Ann-Sofie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 2021; MDPI
• Subjects: alpha-linolenic acid; Arachidonic acid; Asthma; Atopic eczema; Atopy; Babies; Birth Cohort; Children; Clinical Medicine; Cord blood; dermatitis; Dermatitis, Atopic - etiology; Dermatologi och venereologi; Dermatology and Venereal Diseases; Diet; Diet - adverse effects; Diet Surveys; Dietary intake; Disease; docosahexaenoic acids; Eczema; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids, Unsaturated - blood; Female; Fetal Blood - chemistry; Humans; Hypersensitivity; Immunology; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infants; Klinisk medicin; Laboratories; marine foods; maternal diet; Maternal Exposure - adverse effects; Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Meat; Medical and Health Sciences; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; N-3 PUFAs; N-6 PUFAs; NICE birth cohort; Nutrition & Dietetics; party diagnostic-criteria; Pediatrics; Pediatrik; Permeability; Phospholipids; Phospholipids - blood; Plasma; Pregnancy; Prenatal experience; Prenatal exposure; report instruments; Skin; Skin diseases; Umbilical cord; Womens health; United States > US; arachidonic acid; cord blood; n-3 PUFAs; fatty acids; pregnancy; NICE birth cohort; diet; phospholipids; atopic eczema; n-6 PUFAs
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu13113779

Atopic eczema, the most common atopic disease in infants, may pave the way for sensitization and allergy later in childhood. Fatty acids have immune-regulating properties and may regulate skin permeability. Here we examine whether the proportions of fatty acids among the infant and maternal plasma phospholipids at birth were associated with maternal dietary intake during pregnancy and development of atopic eczema during the first year of age in the Nutritional impact on Immunological maturation during Childhood in relation to the Environment (NICE) birth cohort. Dietary data were collected with a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire, fatty acids were measured with GC-MS and atopic eczema was diagnosed by a pediatric allergologist at 12 months of age. We found that higher proportions of n-6 PUFAs (including arachidonic acid) but lower proportions of n-3 PUFAs (including DPA) in the infant's phospholipids at birth were associated with an increased risk of atopic eczema at 12 months of age. The n-6 and n-3 PUFAs were related to maternal intake of meat and fish, respectively. Our results suggest that prenatal exposure to unsaturated fatty acids is associated with eczema development in the infant. Maternal diet during pregnancy may partly explain the fatty acid profiles .