title: Essential fatty acids and their long-chain polyunsaturated metabolites in maternal and cord plasma triglycerides during late gestation.
abstract: The fatty acid composition of plasma lipids was determined in 41 pairs of mothers and their term infants at time of birth (38-42 postmenstrual weeks) by high-resolution capillary gas-liquid chromatography. Linoleic and alpha-linolenic acids were found at smaller concentrations in cord than in maternal triglycerides, in contrast to strikingly higher proportions of their long-chain polyunsaturated metabolites (LC-PUFA), which indicates a preferential maternofetal transport for certain physiologically important LC-PUFA. While no significant gestational age-dependent changes occurred in maternal plasma triglycerides, the values for most of the fetal long-chain n-3 metabolites increased with the duration of gestation, possibly reflecting an increased transplacental fatty acid passage during late pregnancy or a maturation of desaturation in the fetal liver.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Berghaus
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Demmelmair
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Koletzko
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D005228:Fatty Acids, Essential / Q000097:blood*; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000737:chemistry*; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019787:Linoleic Acid / Q000097:blood; D011247:Pregnancy; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood*; D017962:alpha-Linolenic Acid / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D005228:Fatty Acids, Essential; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D014280:Triglycerides; D017962:alpha-Linolenic Acid; D019787:Linoleic Acid