ArticlePloS one2013
High levels of both n-3 and n-6 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in cord serum phospholipids predict allergy development.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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14 citing papers in PubMed, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Food introduction during the first year of life in a Swedish birth cohort - associations with allergy at 6 years of age.Nutrition journal · 2026Observational
- Associations between maternal fish intake and polyunsaturated fatty acid status with childhood asthma in a high fish-eating population.Pediatric allergy and immunology : official publication of the European Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology · 2025Observational
- The causal association of polyunsaturated fatty acids with allergic disease: A two-sample Mendelian randomization study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
- Maternal Nutritional Status and Development of Atopic Dermatitis in Their Offspring.Clinical reviews in allergy & immunology · 2021Review
- Maternal Intake of Cow's Milk during Lactation Is Associated with Lower Prevalence of Food Allergy in Offspring.Nutrients · 2020Article
- Genome-wide association analysis of 350 000 Caucasians from the UK Biobank identifies novel loci for asthma, hay fever and eczema.Human molecular genetics · 2019Article
- Exposure to a Farm Environment During Pregnancy Increases the Proportion of Arachidonic Acid in the Cord Sera of Offspring.Nutrients · 2019Article
- Article
- Fish and seafood consumption during pregnancy and the risk of asthma and allergic rhinitis in childhood: a pooled analysis of 18 European and US birth cohorts.International journal of epidemiology · 2017Article
- Association of maternal weight with FADS and ELOVL genetic variants and fatty acid levels- The PREOBE follow-up.PloS one · 2017Article
- Blood fatty acid composition in relation to allergy in children aged 2-9 years: results from the European IDEFICS study.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2017Article
- Article
- Early origins of chronic obstructive lung diseases across the life course.European journal of epidemiology · 2014Review
- Serum fatty acid profile does not reflect seafood intake in adolescents with atopic eczema.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2014Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLong-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) reduce T-cell activation and dampen inflammation. They might thereby counteract the neonatal immune activation and hamper normal tolerance development to harmless environmental antigens. We investigated whether fatty acid composition of cord serum phospholipids affects allergy development up to age 13 years.
methodsFrom a population-based birth-cohort born in 1996/7 and followed until 13 years of age (n = 794), we selected cases with atopic eczema (n = 37) or respiratory allergy (n = 44), as well as non-allergic non-sensitized controls (n = 48) based on diagnosis at 13 years of age. Cord and maternal sera obtained at delivery from cases and controls were analysed for proportions of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids among serum phospholipids.
resultsThe cord serum phospholipids from subject who later developed either respiratory allergy or atopic eczema had significantly higher proportions of 5/8 LCPUFA species, as well as total n-3 LCPUFA, total n-6 LCPUFA and total LCPUFA compared to cord serum phospholipids from controls who did not develop allergy (P<0.001 for all comparisons). Conversely, individuals later developing allergy had lower proportion of the monounsaturated fatty acid 18∶1n-9 as well as total MUFA (p<0.001) among cord serum phospholipids. The risk of respiratory allergy at age 13 increased linearly with the proportion of n-3 LCPUFA (Ptrend<0.001), n-6 LCPUFA (Ptrend = 0.001), and total LCPUFA (Ptrend<0.001) and decreased linearly with the proportions of total MUFA (Ptrend = 0.025) in cord serum phospholipids. Furthermore, Kaplan-Meier estimates of allergy development demonstrated that total LCPUFA proportion in cord serum phospholipids was significantly associated with respiratory allergy (P = 0.008) and sensitization (P = 0.002), after control for sex and parental allergy.
conclusionA high proportion of long-chain PUFAs among cord serum phospholipids may predispose to allergy development. The mechanism is unknown, but may involve dampening of the physiologic immune activation in infancy needed for proper maturation of the infant's immune system.
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