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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2017 Apr;13(2):e12300.
doi: 10.1111/mcn.12300. Epub 2016 Apr 13.

Omega-3 LCPUFA supplement: a nutritional strategy to prevent maternal and neonatal oxidative stress

Naroa Kajarabille  1   2   3 , Jose A Hurtado  4 , Luis Peña-Quintana  5   6   7 , Manuela Peña  4 , Josefa Ruiz  8 , Javier Diaz-Castro  1   2 , Yessica Rodríguez-Santana  5 , Estefania Martin-Alvarez  4 , Magdalena López-Frias  1   2 , Olga Soldado  9 , Federico Lara-Villoslada  10 , Julio J Ochoa  1   2
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Omega-3 LCPUFA supplement: a nutritional strategy to prevent maternal and neonatal oxidative stress

Naroa Kajarabille et al. Matern Child Nutr. 2017 Apr.

Abstract

There is controversy about fish-oil supplementation and oxidative damage. This ambiguity should be explored to elucidate its role as modulator of oxidative stress, especially during gestation and postnatal life. This is the objective of this study. One hundred ten pregnant women were divided in two groups: control group CT (400 mL/day of the control dairy drink); supplemented group FO (400 mL/day of the fish oil-enriched dairy drink (±400-mg EPA-DHA/day)). Different biomarkers of oxidative damage were determined in the mother's at enrolment, at delivery and at 2.5 and 4 months postpartum and newborns at delivery and at 2.5 months postpartum. Omega-3 LC-PUFA supplementation during pregnancy and lactation decreased plasma hydroperoxides especially in newborn at delivery (P = 0.001) and 2.5 months (P = 0.006), increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in mothers at delivery (P = 0.024 (SOD)) and after 2.5 months (P = 0.040 (CAT)) and in newborns at 2.5 months (P = 0.035 (SOD); P = 0.021 (CAT)). Also, supplementation increased α-tocoferol in mothers at 2.5 months (P = 0.030) and in umbilical cord artery (P = 0.039). Higher levels of CoQ10 were found in mothers at delivery (P = 0.039) as well as in umbilical cord vein (P = 0.024) and artery (P = 0.036). Our supplementation prevents the oxidative stress in the mother and neonate during the first months of postnatal life, being a potential preventive nutritional strategy to prevent functional alterations associated with oxidative stress that have an important repercussion for the neonate development in the early postnatal life.

Keywords: antioxidant defence; docosahexaenoic acid (DHA); infant development; n-3 fatty acids; oxidative stress; pregnancy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart showing participant progress and drop‐out in the study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Hydroperoxide levels in plasma (A) and erythrocyte membrane (B) of mothers and their neonates. Values are means ± S.E.M. * means statistically significant differences between groups (P < 0.05). Different letters in every group indicate significant differences because of the time in the mothers and in the neonates (CT group: mother (A, B, C, D), newborn (E, F, G); FO group: mother (a, b, c, d), newborn (e, f, g) (adjustment by Bonferroni's test). M0: at recruitment; M1: at delivery; M2: at 2.5 months postpartum; M3: at 4 months postpartum; NOV: umbilical cord vein; NOA: umbilical cord artery; N1: at 2.5 months of life.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Total antioxidant status in plasma. Values are means ± S.E.M. * means statistically significant differences between groups (P < 0.05). Different letters in every group indicate significant differences because of the time in the mothers and in the neonates (CT group: mother (A, B, C, D), newborn (E, F, G); FO group: mother (a, b, c, d), newborn (e, f, g) (adjustment by Bonferroni's test). M0: at recruitment; M1: at delivery; M2: at 2.5 months postpartum; M3: at 4 months postpartum; NOV: umbilical cord vein; NOA: umbilical cord artery; N1: at 2.5 months of life.
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