The influence of supplemental docosahexaenoic and arachidonic acids during pregnancy and lactation on neurodevelopment at eighteen months

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (AA) are important for neurodevelopment. The effects of DHA (220 mg/day, n=41), DHA+AA (220 mg/day, n=39) or placebo (n=34) during pregnancy and lactation on neurodevelopment at 18 months, and the relations between umbilical cord DHA, AA and Mead acid and neurodevelopment were studied. An age-specific, standardized neurological assessment for the evaluation of minor neurological dysfunction (MND), and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) were used. The intervention did not influence any of the outcomes. Umbilical venous (UV) Mead acid was negatively and n-6 fatty acids were weakly positively associated to the BSID mental developmental index. Children with simple MND had lower UV DHA compared to normally classified children. We conclude that relatively short-term maternal DHA or DHA+AA supplementation does not influence neurodevelopment at toddler age, although some parameters of brain development are related to perinatal DHA and AA status. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Supplementation of DHA but not DHA with arachidonic acid during pregnancy and lactation influences general movement quality in 12-week-old term infants

DHA and arachidonic acid (AA) are important for neurodevelopment. A traditional neonatal neurological examination and the evaluation of general movement quality are sensitive techniques for assessing neurodevelopment in young infants. Mildly abnormal general movement,,; at 3 months have been associated with a non-optimal current brain condition. We investigated whether Supplementation of DHA during pregnancy and lactation influences the infant's brain development and whether additional AA modulates this effect. Healthy women were randomly assigned to DHA (220 mg/d, it 42), DHA + AA (220 mg each/d, n 41) or control (n 36), from about week 17 (range 14-20 weeks) of pregnancy until 12 weeks postpartum. The control and the DHA + AA groups had approximately comparable dietary DHA/AA ratios. The standardised neonatal neurological examination was carried out at 2 weeks. General movement quality was assessed at 2 and 12 weeks. Neither DHA alone nor DHA + AA influenced outcomes in the traditional examination. General movement quality of infants in the DHA group was lower than that of infants in the other two groups, especially at 12 weeks: 61 % of the infants in the DHA group showed mildly abnormal general movements compared with 31 % in the control group (P=0.008) and 34% in the DHA + AA group (P=0.015). We conclude that general movement quality at 12 weeks is sensitive to the maternal dietary DHA/AA balance

Use of Salivary Iodine Concentrations to Estimate the Iodine Status of Adults in Clinical Practice

Background: Measurement of the 24-h urinary iodine concentration or urinary iodine excretion (UIE) is the gold standard to determine iodine status; however, this method is inconvenient. The use of salivary iodine could be a possible alternative since salivary glands express the sodium-iodine symporter.Objectives: We aimed to establish the correlation between the salivary iodine secretion and UIE, to evaluate the clinical applicability of the iodine saliva measurement.Methods: We collected 24-h urine and saliva samples from 40 participants >= 18 y: 20 healthy volunteers with no specific diet (group 1), 10 patients with differentiated thyroid cancer with a low dietary intake (<50 mu g/d, group 2), and 10 patients with a high iodine status as the result of the use of amiodarone (group 3). Urinary and salivary iodine were measured using a validated inductively coupled plasma MS method. To correct for differences in water content, the salivary iodine concentration (SIC) was corrected for salivary protein and urea concentrations (SI/SP and SI/SU, respectively). The intra-and inter-individual CVs were calculated, and the Kruskal-Wallis test and Spearman's correlation were used.Results: The intra-individual CVs for SIC, SI/SP and SI/SU were 63.8%, 37.7%, and 26.9%, respectively. The inter-individual CVs for SIC, SI/SP and SI/SU were 775%, 41.6% and 470%, respectively. We found significant differences (P < 0.01) in urinary and salivary iodine concentrations between all groups [the 24-h UIE values were 176 mu g/d (IQR, 96.1-213 mu g/d), 26.0 mu g/d (IQR, 22.0-37.0 mu g/d), and 10.0*10(3) mu g/d (IQR, 757*10(3)-11.4*10(3) mu g/d) in groups 1-3, respectively; the SIC values were 136 mu g/L (IQR, 86.3-308 mu g/L), 71.5 tg/L (IQR, 29.5-94.5 mu g/L), and 14.3*10(3) mu g/L (IQR, 10.6*10(3) 25.6*10(3) mu g/L) in groups 1-3, respectively]. Correlations between the 24-h UIE and SIC, sysp and SI/SU values were strong (rho = 0.80, rho = 0.90, and rho = 0.86, respectively; P < 0.01).Conclusions: Strong correlations were found between salivary and urinary iodine in adults with different daily iodine intakes. A salivary iodine measurement can be performed to assess the total iodine body pool, with the recommendation to correct for salivary protein or urea

Exclusive breastfeeding of healthy term infants for at least 6 weeks improves neurological condition

To investigate the minimal duration of exclusive breastfeeding for optimal neurological outcome, we assessed the quality of general movements (GM) at 3 mo of 147 breastfed healthy term infants that were followed from birth. The quality of GM is a sensitive marker of neurological condition. The quality of GM was classified as normal-optimal, normal-suboptimal, mildly abnormal and definitely abnormal. Information on social and pre- and perinatal conditions and the duration of breastfeeding was collected prospectively. Logistical regression analyses were used to adjust for confounders. There was a positive association between breastfeeding duration and movement quality, with a saturation effect at the age of similar to 6 wk. In the group of infants breastfed for less than or equal to 6 wk (n = 55), 18% exhibited normal-optimal GM, 47% normal-suboptimal GM, and 47% mildly abnormal GM. In contrast, in the group of infants breastfed for > 6 wk (n = 92), 43% exhibited normal-optimal GM, 45% normal-suboptimal GM, and 12% mildly abnormal GM, Exclusive breastfeeding for >6 wk was therefore associated with markedly less abnormal and more normal-optimal GM. Thus, we conclude that breastfeeding for > 6 wk might improve the neurological condition in infants