In addition to the core symptoms, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with poor emotion regulation. There is some evidence that children and young adults with ADHD have ...lower omega-3 levels and that supplementation with omega-3 can improve both ADHD and affective symptoms. We therefore investigated differences between ADHD and non-ADHD children in omega-3/6 fatty acid plasma levels and the relationship between those indices and emotion-elicited event-related potentials (ERPs).
Children/adolescents with (n=31) and without ADHD (n=32) were compared in their plasma omega-3/6 indices and corresponding ERPs during an emotion processing task.
Children with ADHD had lower mean omega-3/6 and ERP abnormalities in emotion processing, independent of emotional valence relative to control children. ERP abnormalities were significantly associated with lower omega-3 levels in the ADHD group.
The findings reveal for the first time that lower omega-3 fatty acids are associated with impaired emotion processing in ADHD children.
Diet therapy is the cornerstone for the management of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Women with GDM are commonly given dietary advice that broadly focuses on a reduction of total energy and fat ...consumption. We compared nutrient intake and specifically fatty acids of women with GDM who had received individualized nutritional counseling with those of non-diabetic women who did not.
Women with GDM (
n = 44) and healthy pregnant women (
n = 44) with uncomplicated singleton pregnancies were recruited during the third trimester. Women with GDM were given consultation on diet, health, and macronutrient content of foods commonly consumed by the individual. The non-diabetic group did not receive any dietary advice. Both groups were asked to keep a detailed record of all of foods and fluid consumed over a 4-d period.
After dietary counseling, the GDM group had lower intakes of energy (
P < 0.05), refined sugar (
P < 0.0001), total and saturated fats (
P < 0.0001), and monounsaturated (
P < 0.01) and trans (
P < 0.0001) fatty acids and higher levels of docosahexaenoic acid and fiber (
P < 0.05) compared with the non-diabetic group.
Individualized dietary advice was associated with a lower consumption of the target nutrients in women with GDM. Another benefit of the advice was a slight increase in intake of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids, although consumption of ω-3 fatty acids by both groups was well below the recommendations for pregnancy. There is evidence that docosahexaenoic acid modulates insulin resistance and that it is vital for neurovisual development. We suggest that dietary management for women with GDM should foster the current recommendations for essential fatty acids in pregnancy.
In previous studies, we found that homozygous sickle cell (HbSS) patients, compared with their healthy (HbAA) counterparts, had reduced levels of the omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and ...docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids, in red cells, platelets, and mononuclear cells. These differences were not due to lower intake of the two fatty acids. We have investigated whether reduced antioxidant status in the patients could help explain the observed phenomenon. Blood specimens previously obtained for fatty acid study from Nigerian (26 HbSS and 30 HbAA) and British (30 HbSS, 9 sickle cell-hemoglobin C/HbSC, and 15 HbAA) subjects were analyzed for antioxidant status. The Nigerian HbSS patients compared with the controls had lower plasma retinol, alpha-tocopherol, and beta-carotene concentrations (p < 0.005) and reduced activity of red cell Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD) (p < 0.05). Similarly, the British HbSS group had reduced concentrations of plasma alpha-tocopherol (p < 0.005), and activities of red cell Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (p < 0.05) and Se-glutathione peroxidase (Se-GPx) (p < 0.005) than the controls. In addition, the British patients in comparison with those who had HbSC, a mild form of the disease, had lower alpha-tocopherol than that of the HbAA controls (p < 0.005). In the British sickle cell patients, there was a positive correlation between red cell ethanolamine phosphoglyceride (EPG) DHA and Cu/Zn-SOD activity (r = 0.700, p < 0.05), choline phosphoglyceride (CPG) DHA and Se-GPx activity (r = 0.605, p < 0.05), and CPG EPA and Se-GPx activity (r = 0.558, p > 0.05). Similarly, the percent DHA in red cell EPG was positively related with the activity of Se-GPx in the patients with HbSC (r = 0.674, p < 0.05). These findings suggest that the lower levels of membrane EPA and DHA in blood cells of the HbSS patients could be due to peroxidation resulting from a compromised antioxidant competence.
Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a transient metabolic disorder that is a strong predictor of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Previously, GDM was associated with reduced red cell ...long-chain omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids in population (British) with high intake of total and saturated fat. The aim of the study was to examine blood fatty acids status of GDM patients (
n
=
12) and normoglycaemic women (control,
n
=
12) from South Korea where typical diet retains high omega-3 fat with low total fat intake. Subjects were matched for BMI and gestation week. Blood obtained at delivery were analyzed for plasma triacylglycerols (TG), phosphatidylcholine (PC), sphingomyelin (SM), and red cell PC, phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and SM fatty acids. GDM patients had lower total saturated fatty acids (SFA) in the plasma TG (
p
<
0.05) and PC (
p
<
0.0001), and higher omega-6 and omega-3 metabolites in the plasma PC (
p
<
0.05) than the controls. Conversely, the red cell PC and PE of the GDM contained higher proportions of palmitic (
p
<
0.05) and SFA (
p
<
0.05) but lower arachidonic (
p
<
0.05) and docosahexaenoic (
p
>
0.05) acids compared with the controls. Interestingly, red cell PC arachidonic acid level was comparable between Korean and British women whereas docosahexaenoic acid level decreased in the order of Korean control (5.5
±
0.9)
>
Korean GDM (3.5
±
2.1)
=
British control (3.9
±
2.9)
>
British GDM (2.8
±
2.3) (
p
<
0.05). The similarity in the plasma and red cell fatty acids profile between Korean and British cohort suggests that the reduced membrane arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acids in GDM might be attributed to the effect of the disease itself regardless of ethnicity, obesity, or diet.
We review evidence suggesting that pre- or postnatal deficits of arachidonic acid (AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) together with underdeveloped antioxidant protection contribute to neurovisual ...developmental disorders and other complications of premature birth. These two synergistic deficits occur at a time when 70% of energy is focused on brain development and when the brain and blood vessels are growing at high speed. The types of essential fatty acids fed to preterm babies bear no relation to what the infant would have received had it remained a fetus. This failure to meet essential fatty acid requirements exacerbates the AA and DHA deficits seen at birth; furthermore, the immature superoxide defenses remain depressed until the expected date of delivery. Deficits of these systems, which are required for cell membranes, the endothelium, and neural tissue, could provide the biochemical prerequisite for the membrane disorders to which these babies are at high risk: intraventricular hemorrhage, periventricular leucomalacia, retinopathy of prematurity, and bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Although poor vascular development during fetal and neonatal life may be repaired, the structural and antioxidant deficits identified in preterm babies may impair blood vessel development with long-term consequences. The conclusion drawn from this review is that present parenteral and enteral lipid nutrition for preterm babies is flawed and could be pathogenic. Full-term milk composition is the basis for the design of preterm infant foods, but full-term milk is different from the placental product that is rich in AA and DHA. Preterm lipid nutrition should be revised to be more in line with placental lipid transfer to the fetus.
Women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and their neonates have lower levels of arachidonic (AA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids in red cell membranes. It is not clear if this abnormality is ...restricted to red cells or is a generalised problem. We have investigated plasma fatty acids of neonates (venous cord) of GDM (
n
=
37
), and non-diabetic (
n
=
31
) women. The GDMs had lower levels of dihomogamma-linolenic (20:3n-6, DHGLA) acid, ∑n-6 metabolites, DHA and ∑n-3 metabolites (
p
<
0.05
) in choline phosphoglycerides (CPG). They also had lower levels of AA (−4.5%), adrenic acid (22:4n-6, −13%), osbond acid (22:5n-6, −7%) and ∑n-6 (−2.5%). There was a similar pattern in triglycerides (TG) and cholesterol esters (CE). Mead acid, a marker of generalised shortage of derived and parent essential fatty acids, was higher in CPG and TG of the GDM group by 73% and 76%. The adrenic/osbond acid (22:4n-6/22:5n-6) ratio, a biochemical marker of DHA insufficiency, was reduced in CPG (−4.5%), TG (−63%) and CE (−75%) of the GDM group. These findings, which are consistent with the previous red cell data, suggest that the neuro-visual and vascular development and function of the offspring of GDM women may be adversely affected if the levels of AA and DHA are compromised further by other factors, pre- or post-natally. Studies are required to elucidate the underlying mechanism for the reduction of the two fatty acids and to evaluate the developmental and health implications.
Abstract Affective impairment is observed in children and adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Low levels of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA), ...specifically omega-3 (ω-3) fatty acids in blood measures have been linked to a range of behavioural and mood disorders including ADHD. However, nothing is known about the relationship between ω-3 and brain function in children with ADHD. In the current study, 20 adolescent boys with ADHD were assessed for total lipid fractions in red blood cells and their event-related potential (ERP) response to the presentation of facial expressions of happiness, sadness and fearfulness. The results supported the hypothesis of a positive association between eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and a cognitive bias in orientation to overt expressions of happiness over both sad and fearful faces as indexed by midline frontal P300 amplitude. Additional exploratory analyses revealed a positive association between levels of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and the right temporal N170 amplitude in response to covert expressions of fear. The arachidonic (AA)/DHA ratio was negatively associated with the right temporal N170 amplitude also to covert expressions of fear. These findings indicate that EPA and DHA may be involved in distinct aspects of affect processing in ADHD and have implications for understanding currently inconsistent findings in the literature on EFA supplementation in ADHD and depression.
Sudanese women’s and neonates’ vitamin A status Nyuar, Kot B; Ghebremeskel, Kebreab; Crawford, Michael A
Nutrition and Health,
01/2012, Letnik:
21, Številka:
1
Book Review, Journal Article
Recenzirano
We have determined and compared the concentration levels of retinol and β-carotene in the plasma of three Sudanese women groups (displaced southern Sudanese women (DSSW), non-displaced southern ...Sudanese (NDSSW) and northern Sudanese women (NSW)), who were either pregnant or non-pregnant; and in their neonates (cord plasma). Plasma samples were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography using reversed-phase column and diode-array detectors. The results revealed that retinol and β-carotene in the plasma of non-pregnant and pregnant women in the three groups were very low compared with studies reported elsewhere. Over 50% of pregnant DSSW and NDSSW had a low concentration of retinol plasma (< 0.70 µmol/L), and about 15–20% were deficient (< 0.35 µmol/L) according to World Health Organization criteria. Although the average retinol concentration in the plasma of pregnant NSW was > 0.70 µmol/L, which suggests sufficiency status, 32% showed lower levels and 10% were deficient. Plasma retinol β-carotene levels in the neonates’ cords were also lower than their mothers and in comparison with other studies. These findings are in agreement with previous survey data and clinical reports, which also suggest that vitamin A deficiency is of great concern in the country. We concluded that insufficient intake of food of animal origin and repeated malarial and other parasitic diseases are the most likely causes of vitamin A deficiency.
The radiation of the mammalian land species that became the baleen whales happened about 27–34 Mya. Mammals require omega 6 fatty acids for reproduction. With this long exposure to the omega 3‐rich ...marine food chain, the Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) might be expected to have lost its requirement for omega 6 fatty acids. We report an unexpectedly high content of omega 6 arachidonic acid (ArA) in the Gray whale liver and muscle lipids. This whale migrates 10,000 km from the cold polar, omega 3 oil‐rich food chain to that of the breeding lagoons of the tropical waters. The food web of tropical waters is a source of omega 6 fatty acids, which are hardly present in the cold polar food web. We suggest the reason for this longest of migrations from cold to warm waters is to meet the requirement for omega 6 fatty acids for mammalian reproduction and brain growth. This extreme conservation of omega 6 fatty acids in Gray whale biology has critical implications for mammalian biology and especially for whale conservation.
The aim of the study was to investigate, whether (a) patients with homozygous sickle cell disease (SCD, HbSS) have abnormal blood fatty acids; (b) the abnormality, if it exists, affects all the ...plasma and erythrocyte lipids or it is restricted to a particular lipid moiety; (c) there is an association between levels of membrane n-3 or n-6 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) and the degree of anaemia. Fatty acids of erythrocyte choline (CPG), serine (SPG) and ethanolamine (EPG) phosphoglycerides and sphingomyelin (SPM); and plasma CPG, triglycerides and cholesterol esters of 43 steady-state HbSS patients and 43 ethnically matched, healthy, HbAA controls were analysed. The levels of the n-6 LCPUFA, arachidonic (AA), adrenic and docosapentaenoic acids in erythrocyte CPG (
P
<
0.001
) and EPG (
P
<
0.01
) were higher in the patients compared with the controls. In contrast, the proportions of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in CPG and EPG (
P
<
0.001
) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and total n-3 metabolites in CPG (
P
<
0.001
) were lower in the patients. The steady-state haemoglobin level of the patients correlated with erythrocyte DHA (
r
=
0.55
,
P
<
0.01
), EPA (
r
=
0.38
,
P
<
0.05
) and total n-3 metabolites (
r
=
0.51
,
P
<
0.001
) in CPG. Also, it correlated with erythrocyte EPA (
r
=
0.64
,
P
<
0.01
) and total n-3 metabolites (
r
=
0.42
,
P
<
0.01
) in EPG. The study revealed an imbalance between n-3 and n-6 LCPUFA in erythrocyte and plasma lipid moieties of the HbSS group. Furthermore, it suggested that correction of the imbalance by supplementation with EPA and DHA could ameliorate anaemia in the patients. This observation is consistent with the results of pilot studies, which demonstrated that treatment with n-3 fatty acids confers clinical benefit to sickle cell patients.
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