Does prenatal micronutrient supplementation improve children's mental development? A systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although maternal nutrient status influences all aspects of fetal development including the brain, the impact of micronutrient supplementation on the baby's mental function is a topic of debate. This systematic review assesses the effect of single and multiple micronutrient supplementation during pregnancy on offspring mental development.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Eleven electronic literature databases were searched using key terms of various combinations and filter string terms. Reference lists of articles selected for review were scanned for citations fitting the same inclusion criteria. Each stage of the literature retrieval and review process was conducted independently by two reviewers. The CONSORT checklist was used to assess study quality.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 1316 articles were retrieved from the electronic database search, of which 18 met the inclusion criteria and were evaluated. The selected studies were randomized controlled trials published from 1983 to 2010, with high variance in sample size, intervention type, and outcome measures. The median CONSORT score was 15 (range 12 - 19). Due to inconsistent interventions and outcome measures among the studies, no conclusive evidence was found that enhancing the intrauterine environment through micronutrient supplementation was associated with child mental development in a number of dimensions. There was some evidence to support n-3 fatty acids or multi-micronutrients having some positive effect on mental development, but the evidence for single nutrients was much weaker.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The study of children's mental outcomes as a function of prenatal supplementation is still relatively new, but the results of this systematic review suggest that further work with multiple micronutrients and/or n-3 fatty acids should be conducted.</p

The influence of long chain polyunsaturate supplementation on docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid in baboon neonate central nervous system

BACKGROUND: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) are major components of the cerebral cortex and visual system, where they play a critical role in neural development. We quantitatively mapped fatty acids in 26 regions of the four-week-old breastfed baboon CNS, and studied the influence of dietary DHA and ARA supplementation and prematurity on CNS DHA and ARA concentrations. METHODS: Baboons were randomized into a breastfed (B) and four formula-fed groups: term, no DHA/ARA (T-); term, DHA/ARA supplemented (T+); preterm, no DHA/ARA (P-); preterm and DHA/ARA supplemented (P+). At four weeks adjusted age, brains were dissected and total fatty acids analyzed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. RESULTS: DHA and ARA are rich in many more structures than previously reported. They are most concentrated in structures local to the brain stem and diencephalon, particularly the basal ganglia, limbic regions, thalamus and midbrain, and comparatively lower in white matter. Dietary supplementation increased DHA in all structures but had little influence on ARA concentrations. Supplementation restored DHA concentrations to levels of breastfed neonates in all regions except the cerebral cortex and cerebellum. Prematurity per se did not exert a strong influence on DHA or ARA concentrations. CONCLUSION: 1) DHA and ARA are found in high concentration throughout the primate CNS, particularly in gray matter such as basal ganglia; 2) DHA concentrations drop across most CNS structures in neonates consuming formulas with no DHA, but ARA levels are relatively immune to ARA in the diet; 3) supplementation of infant formula is effective at restoring DHA concentration in structures other than the cerebral cortex. These results will be useful as a guide to future investigations of CNS function in the absence of dietary DHA and ARA

Maternal consumption of canola oil suppressed mammary gland tumorigenesis in C3(1) TAg mice offspring

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Maternal consumption of a diet high in omega 6 polyunsaturated fats (n-6 PUFA) has been shown to increase risk whereas a diet high in omega 3 polyunsaturated fats (n-3 PUFA) from fish oil has been shown to decrease risk for mammary gland cancer in female offspring of rats. The aim of this study was to determine whether increasing n-3 PUFA and reducing n-6 PUFA by using canola oil instead of corn oil in the maternal diet might reduce the risk for breast cancer in female offspring.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Female SV 129 mice were divided into two groups and placed on diets containing either 10% w/w corn oil (which is 50% n-6 PUFA, control diet) or 10% w/w canola oil (which is 20% n-6 PUFA, 10% n-3 PUFA, test diet). After two weeks on the diets the females were bred with homozygous C3(1) TAg transgenic mice. Mother mice consumed the assigned diet throughout gestation and nursing of the offspring. After weaning, all female offspring were maintained on the control diet.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Compared to offspring of mothers fed the corn oil diet (CO/CO group), offspring of mothers fed the canola oil diet (CA/CO group) had significantly fewer mammary glands with tumors throughout the experiment. At 130 days of age, the CA/CO group had significantly fewer tumors per mouse (multiplicity); the tumor incidence (fraction of mice with any tumor) and the total tumor weight (per mouse that developed tumor) was less than one half that of the CO/CO group. At 170 days of age, the total tumor weight per mouse was significantly less in the CA/CO group and if a tumor developed the rate of tumor growth rate was half that of CO/CO group. These results indicate that maternal consumption of canola oil was associated with delayed appearance of mammary gland tumors and slowed growth of the tumors that developed.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Substituting canola oil for corn oil is an easy dietary change for people to make; such a change to the maternal diet may decrease risk for breast cancer in the daughter.</p

Daily omega-3 fatty acid intake and depression in Japanese patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer

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Effectiveness of hygienic-dietary recommendations as enhancers of antidepressant treatment in patients with Depression: Study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In recent years some studies have been published supporting the efficacy of light exposure, physical activity, sleep control and a Mediterranean diet pattern on the improvement or prevention of Depression. However, to our knowledge, there have been no studies using all these measures together as an adjuvant antidepressant strategy.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Multicenter, randomized, controlled, two arm-parallel, clinical trial. Eighty depressed patients undergoing standard antidepressant treatment will be advised to follow four additional hygienic-dietary recommendations about exercise, diet, sunlight exposure and sleep. Outcome measures will be assessed before and after the 6 month intervention period.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>We expect the patients in the active recommendations group to experience a greater improvement in their depressive symptoms. If so, this would be a great support for doctors who might systematically recommend these simple and costless measures, especially in primary care.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ISRCTN59506583</p

The evolutionary history of the stearoyl-CoA desaturase gene family in vertebrates

<p/> <p>Background</p> <p>Stearoyl-CoA desaturases (SCDs) are key enzymes involved in <it>de novo </it>monounsaturated fatty acid synthesis. They catalyze the desaturation of saturated fatty acyl-CoA substrates at the delta-9 position, generating essential components of phospholipids, triglycerides, cholesterol esters and wax esters. Despite being crucial for interpreting SCDs roles across species, the evolutionary history of the SCD gene family in vertebrates has yet to be elucidated, in particular their isoform diversity, origin and function. This work aims to contribute to this fundamental effort.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We show here, through comparative genomics and phylogenetics that the SCD gene family underwent an unexpectedly complex history of duplication and loss events. Paralogy analysis hints that SCD1 and SCD5 genes emerged as part of the whole genome duplications (2R) that occurred at the stem of the vertebrate lineage. The SCD1 gene family expanded in rodents with the parallel loss of SCD5 in the Muridae family. The SCD1 gene expansion is also observed in the Lagomorpha although without the SCD5 loss. In the amphibian <it>Xenopus tropicalis </it>we find a single SCD1 gene but not SCD5, though this could be due to genome incompleteness. In the analysed teleost species no SCD5 is found, while the surrounding SCD5-less locus is conserved in comparison to tetrapods. In addition, the teleost SCD1 gene repertoire expanded to two copies as a result of the teleost specific genome duplication (3R). Finally, we describe clear orthologues of SCD1 and SCD5 in the chondrichthian, <it>Scyliorhinus canicula</it>, a representative of the oldest extant jawed vertebrate clade. Expression analysis in <it>S. canicula </it>shows that whilst SCD1 is ubiquitous, SCD5 is mainly expressed in the brain, a pattern which might indicate an evolutionary conserved function.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We conclude that the SCD1 and SCD5 genes emerged as part of the 2R genome duplications. We propose that the evolutionary conserved gene expression between distinct lineages underpins the importance of SCD activity in the brain (and probably the pancreas), in a yet to be defined role. We argue that an expression independent of an external stimulus, such as diet induced activity, emerged as a novel function in vertebrate ancestry allocated to the SCD5 isoform in various tissues (e.g. brain and pancreas), and it was selectively maintained throughout vertebrate evolution.</p