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Polyunsaturated fatty acids in cord serum increased allergy risk
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Children born with high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids are an increased risk of developing respiratory and skin allergies in their early teens, according to study findings recently published.
“Both n-3 and n-6 [long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid] proportions were positively associated with allergy development, while the proportion of monounsaturated fatty acids was inversely related to sensitization and allergy development,” researchers from the Food Science division, department of chemical and biological engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden, wrote in PLoS ONE. “The effect persisted after controlling for potential confounders, such as parental allergy and sex, and both n-3 and n-6 [long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid] proportions dose-dependently increased the risk for developing respiratory allergy.”
The population-based birth cohort study included 794 children born between 1996 and 1997 who were followed until aged 13 years. Researchers selected 44 participants with atopic eczema, 44 with respiratory allergy and 44 non-allergic non-sensitized controls and evaluated cord and maternal sera collected at birth for proportions of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids among serum phospholipids.
Participants who later developed respiratory allergy or atopic eczema had higher levels of 5/8 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid species; total n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid; total n-6 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid; and total long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid compared with those who did not develop allergies (P<.001). However, participants who developed allergies had lower level of the monounsaturated fatty acid 18:1n-9 and total monounsaturated fatty acid (P<.001).
At aged 13 years, the risk for respiratory allergy increased along with the proportion of n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (P<.001), n-6 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (P<.001) and total long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (P<.001). However, it decreased with proportions of total monounsaturated fatty acid in cord serum phospholipids (P-.025).
“In summary, our study demonstrated a positive dose-response relationship between levels of both n-3 and n-6 [polyunsaturated fatty acids] in cord serum and subsequent development of sensitization and respiratory allergy,” researchers wrote. “A tentative explanation could bed that n-3 and n-6 [long-chain polyunsaturated fats] counteract T-cell activation in response to microbial exposure and thereby delay the maturation of the infant’s immune system that is needed to develop tolerance to innocuous environmental antigens.”
Disclosure: See study for a full list of disclosures.
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