title: Status of cis and trans fatty acids in Brazilian adolescent mothers and their newborns.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective was to quantify cis and trans fatty acids in maternal plasma and infant cord plasma from adolescent mothers.
  
  
  METHODS
  From 80 adolescent healthy mothers, we sampled postpartum maternal blood and umbilical cord blood at birth. Trans fatty acids (tFAs), linoleic (18:2), and arachidonic (AA, 20:4) acids of the n-6 family, and α-linolenic (18:3), eicosapentaenoic (20:5) and docosahexaenoic (22:6) acids of the n-3 family were analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography. Results were expressed as a percentage of total fatty acids.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Linoleic fatty acid was present in greater proportions in the maternal plasma than in that of the umbilical cord, whereas AA was present in greater proportions in the total lipids of umbilical cord blood. Docosahexaenoic acid was the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid of the n-3 family that was predominant in both maternal and umbilical cord plasma. The tFAs in the maternal plasma had a negative correlation with oleic acid and linoleic acid. Linolenic acid had a positive correlation with cephalic perimeter upon birth. A tendency for a negative correlation between trans isomers and gestational age at birth (P = .05) was observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are important to fetal growth and development, were found in greater quantities in the cord blood of newborns of adolescents than in the maternal blood, indicating a priority of transfer of AA and docosahexaenoic fatty acids to the fetus. Despite the lower levels of tFAs found in maternal blood, we verified potential risk for premature birth.
authors: Laboratório de Bioquímica Nutricional, Instituto de Nutrição Josué de Castro da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors: F S
authors: FS
authors: Santos
authors: C R M
authors: CR
authors: Chaves
authors: R S S
authors: RS
authors: Costa
authors: O R C
authors: OR
authors: Oliveira
authors: M G
authors: MG
authors: Santana
authors: F D
authors: FD
authors: Conceição
authors: F L C
authors: FL
authors: Sardinha
authors: G V
authors: GV
authors: Veiga
authors: M G
authors: MG
authors: Tavares do Carmo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016718:Arachidonic Acid / Q000097:blood; D001724:Birth Weight; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001938:Brazil; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000737:chemistry*; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019787:Linoleic Acid / Q000097:blood; D019301:Oleic Acid / Q000097:blood; D049590:Postpartum Period; D044242:Trans Fatty Acids / Q000097:blood*; D055815:Young Adult; D017962:alpha-Linolenic Acid / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D044242:Trans Fatty Acids; D017962:alpha-Linolenic Acid; D016718:Arachidonic Acid; D019301:Oleic Acid; D019787:Linoleic Acid; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid