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  • Title: Maternal and fetal brain contents of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (AA) at various essential fatty acid (EFA), DHA and AA dietary intakes during pregnancy in mice.
    Author: van Goor SA, Dijck-Brouwer DA, Fokkema MR, van der Iest TH, Muskiet FA.
    Journal: Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids; 2008 Mar; 78(3):159-69. PubMed ID: 18343099.
    Abstract:
    We investigated essential fatty acids (EFA) and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCP) in maternal and fetal brain as a function of EFA/LCP availability to the feto-maternal unit in mice. Diets varying in parent EFA, arachidonic acid (AA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were administered from day 3 prior to conception till day 15 of pregnancy. We concentrated on DHA, AA, Mead acid, and EFA-index [(omega-3+omega-6)/(omega-7+omega-9)] in maternal erythrocytes, maternal brain, and fetal brain. It was found that erythrocyte EFA/LCP sensitively reflects declining EFA/LCP status in pregnancy, although this decline was not apparent in maternal brain. Differences in erythrocyte EFA/LCP coincided with larger differences in fetal brain EFA/LCP as compared to EFA/LCP in maternal brain. Both maternal and fetal brains were affected by short-term EFA/LCP intake, but the developing fetal brain proved most sensitive. The inverse relationship between fetal brain AA and DHA suggests the need of a maternal dietary DHA/AA balance, at least in mice.
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