The association of maternal polyunsaturated fatty acids during pregnancy with social competence and problem behaviours at 7 years of age: The MEFAB cohort

•Maternal PUFAs during pregnancy might affect child socio-behavioural development.•Subject- and PUFA-specific changes were computed from linear-spline regressions.•Increasing maternal arachidonic acid is related to higher child social competence.•Decreasing maternal n6 PUFA is related to lower child...

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Published in:	Prostaglandins, leukotrienes and essential fatty acids Vol. 144; pp. 1 - 9
Main Authors:	Tore, E.C., Gielen, M., Antoniou, E.E., de Groot, R.H.M., Godschalk, R.W.L., Southwood, T.R., Smits, L., Stratakis, N., van de Wurff, I.S.M., Zeegers, M.P.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Scotland Elsevier Ltd 01-05-2019
Subjects:	Adult Biomarkers Body Mass Index Child Cohort Studies Developmental origins of health and disease Fatty Acids, Essential - blood Fatty Acids, Omega-3 - blood Fatty Acids, Omega-6 - blood Fatty Acids, Unsaturated - blood Female Humans Phospholipids - blood Polyunsaturated fatty acids Pregnancy Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - psychology Prenatal programming Problem Behavior - psychology Problem behaviours Prospective Studies Social competence Social Skills AA Polyunsaturated fatty acids PUFA(s) IQR Developmental origins of health and disease SD MEFAB Problem behaviours Social competence EPA CBCL Biomarkers Prenatal programming DHA BMI
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Summary:	•Maternal PUFAs during pregnancy might affect child socio-behavioural development.•Subject- and PUFA-specific changes were computed from linear-spline regressions.•Increasing maternal arachidonic acid is related to higher child social competence.•Decreasing maternal n6 PUFA is related to lower child externalizing behaviours.•Both associations were modest and within the normal-development range. The prenatal exposure to maternal n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) might influence the development of social competence and internalizing and externalizing behaviours of the child, because of the numerous functions of PUFAs within the nervous system. To analyse the association of selected maternal PUFAs (i.e., AA, EPA, DHA, total n-6, total n-3, and the n-6:n-3 ratio) measured during gestation with childhood social competence and problem behaviours, we examined 311 mother-child pairs from the Maastricht Essential Fatty Acid Birth (MEFAB) cohort. For each woman, PUFA-specific changes in relative concentrations were calculated by identifying the best-fitting curve of PUFA concentration by linear splines of gestational age. The associations of changes in maternal PUFAs in early and late pregnancy with childhood social competence, total problems, internalizing and externalizing behaviours, measured with the Child Behaviour Checklist 4/18 at age 7, were investigated with linear regression analyses adjusted for maternal and children's socio-demographic characteristics. In late gestation (i.e., from gestational week 30), an increase in AA was associated with higher social competence, while a decrease in total n-6 was associated with lower externalizing behaviours. No other significant associations were found. In this prospective study, increasing maternal AA and decreasing total n-6 were associated with improved social competence and externalizing behaviours, respectively, in 7-year old children. Nonetheless, the clinical significance of the identified associations is modest and further investigations are warranted to clarify the relationship between maternal AA and total n-6 during pregnancy and childhood social and behavioural development.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0952-3278 1532-2823
DOI:	10.1016/j.plefa.2019.04.002