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Fatty acids may protect infants against allergies

Ensuring that children receive adequate amounts of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in infancy may help protect against wheezing, asthma and atopic dermatitis during the first few years of life, according to data presented at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology in San Francisco.

Deolinda Scalabrin, MD, PhD, of the department of medical affairs at Mead Johnson Nutrition in Evansville, Ind., and colleagues from other US sites studied the effects of two fatty acids — docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 typically found in fish oil, and arachidonic acid (ARA), an omega-6 typically found in vegetable oils, nuts and seeds — in a cohort of infants from two randomized, double-blind studies.

Because the anti-inflammatory properties of both omega-3 and omega-6 are well known, the researchers said these nutrients may have a positive effect on infants’ developing immune systems in a way that may make them less prone to allergies later in life.

To test this idea, infants from two randomized, double-blind studies who received one of two formula feeding schedules (standard formula [n=47]) or formula supplemented with DHA/ARA [n=36]), initiated within 5 days of birth and continued through 12 months of age, had their medical charts reviewed. A reference group of breastfed infants was also followed (n=25).

Blinded study nurses performed medical chart reviews to determine first diagnosis and recurrence of allergic manifestations, including wheezing, asthma, atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis, food allergy and urticaria.

The researchers found that infants in the DHA/ARA formula group and those who had been breast-fed had a significantly lower risk for developing wheezing, asthma, atopic dermatitis or any other allergy vs. infants in the standard formula group during the first 3 years of life.

The results remained statistically significant after adjusting for gender, family history of allergy and smoking in the home.

For more information:

• Scalabrin DM. #113. Presented at: 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology; March 18-22, 2011; San Francisco.

Disclosure: Funded by Mead Johnson Nutrition. The original randomized trials were funded by the National Institutes of Health.

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