title: Association between polyunsaturated fatty acid concentrations in maternal plasma phospholipids during pregnancy and offspring adiposity at age 7: the MEFAB cohort.
abstract: Prenatal polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) concentrations may be involved in the prenatal programming of adiposity. In this study we therefore explored the association between maternal PUFA concentrations, measured up to four times during pregnancy, and offspring adiposity at age 7 in 234 mother-child pairs of the Maastricht Essential Fatty Acid Birth cohort. Only dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (DGLA, an n-6 fatty acid) concentration was associated with adiposity: per standard deviation increase in relative DGLA concentration, BMI increased by 0.44kg/m(2) (CI95: 0.16, 0.72), sum of skinfolds increased by 3.41mm (CI95: 1.88, 4.95), waist circumference increased by 1.09cm (CI95: 0.40, 1.78), and plasma leptin concentration increased by 0.66µg/l (CI95: 0.20, 1.11). In conclusion, maternal DGLA throughout gestation was associated with increased BMI and some additional measures of adiposity at age 7. This suggests that maternal DGLA might play a role in or reflect the prenatal programming of adiposity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, the Netherlands; NUTRIM School for Nutrition, Toxicology and Metabolism, Departments of Complex Genetics, Cluster of Genetics and Cell Biology, Maastricht University, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Paul S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: de Vries
authors.affiliation: NUTRIM School for Nutrition, Toxicology and Metabolism, Departments of Complex Genetics, Cluster of Genetics and Cell Biology, Maastricht University, the Netherlands. Electronic address: marij.gielen@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
authors.forename: Marij
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gielen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Erasmus Medical Center, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Dimitris
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rizopoulos
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rump
authors.affiliation: NUTRIM School for Nutrition, Toxicology and Metabolism, Department of Toxicology, Maastricht University, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Godschalk
authors.affiliation: NUTRIM School for Nutrition, Toxicology and Metabolism, Departments of Complex Genetics, Cluster of Genetics and Cell Biology, Maastricht University, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Gerard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hornstra
authors.affiliation: NUTRIM School for Nutrition, Toxicology and Metabolism, Departments of Complex Genetics, Cluster of Genetics and Cell Biology, Maastricht University, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Maurice P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Zeegers
mesh_terms: D015126:8,11,14-Eicosatrienoic Acid / Q000097:blood*; D050154:Adiposity / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015126:8,11,14-Eicosatrienoic Acid
keywords: Childhood adiposity; Childhood obesity; Essential fatty acids; Fetal origins; Polyunsaturated fatty acids; Prental programming