Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Levels in Maternal Erythrocytes of Japanese Women during Pregnancy and after Childbirth

Terue Kawabata; Yasuo Kagawa; Fumiko Kimura; Teruo Miyazawa; Shoji Saito; Takahiro Arima; Kunihiko Nakai; Nobuo Yaegashi

doi:10.3390/nu9030245

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Levels in Maternal Erythrocytes of Japanese Women during Pregnancy and after Childbirth

Nutrients. 2017 Mar 7;9(3):245. doi: 10.3390/nu9030245.

Authors

Terue Kawabata¹, Yasuo Kagawa², Fumiko Kimura^{3

4}, Teruo Miyazawa^{4

5}, Shoji Saito^{6

7}, Takahiro Arima⁸, Kunihiko Nakai⁹, Nobuo Yaegashi¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Nutrition, Kagawa Nutrition University, 3-9-21 Chiyoda, Sakado, Saitama 350-0288, Japan. kawabata@eiyo.ac.jp.
² Faculty of Nutrition, Kagawa Nutrition University, 3-9-21 Chiyoda, Sakado, Saitama 350-0288, Japan. kagawa@eiyo.ac.jp.
³ Faculty of Comprehensive Human Sciences, Shokei Gakuin University, 4-10-1 Yurigaoka, Natori, Miyagi 981-1295, Japan. miyazawa@m.tohoku.ac.jp.
⁴ Food and Biodynamic Chemistry Laboratory, Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Tohoku University, 468-1 aza-Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-0845, Japan. miyazawa@m.tohoku.ac.jp.
⁵ New Industry Creation Hatchery Center (NICHe), Tohoku University, 6-6-10 aza-Aoba, Aramaki, Aobaku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan. miyazawa@m.tohoku.ac.jp.
⁶ Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryomachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan. shojisaiko5324@yahoo.co.jp.
⁷ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yamagata Prefectural Central Hospital, 1800 Ooaza-Aoyagi, Yamagata-shi, Yamagata 990-2292, Japan. shojisaiko5324@yahoo.co.jp.
⁸ Department of Informative Genetics, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan. tarima@med.tohoku.ac.jp.
⁹ Department of Development and Environmental Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan. nakaik@med.tohoku.ac.jp.
¹⁰ Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryomachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan. yaegashi@med.tohoku.ac.jp.

Abstract

Background: The transport of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), such as arachidonic acid (ARA, 20:4n-6) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3), to the fetus from maternal stores increases depending on the fetal requirements for PUFA during the last trimester of pregnancy. Therefore, maternal blood PUFA changes physiologically with gestational age. However, the changes in PUFA levels in maternal blood erythrocytes during pregnancy and after childbirth have not been fully investigated in a fish-eating population.

Objective: To examine the changes of ARA and DHA levels in maternal erythrocytes with the progress of pregnancy and the relationship between maternal and umbilical cord erythrocyte PUFA levels in pregnant Japanese women who habitually eat fish and shellfish.

Design: This study was performed as a part of the adjunct study of the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS). The participants were 74 pregnant women. The maternal blood samples were collected at 27, 30, and 36 weeks of pregnancy, and 2 days and 1 month after delivery, and umbilical cord blood was collected at delivery. The fatty acid levels of erythrocytes in these blood samples were determined.

Results: ARA and DHA levels in maternal erythrocytes tended to decrease with the progress of pregnancy. While the DHA level decreased further after delivery, the ARA level returned to the value at 27 weeks of pregnancy within 1 month after delivery. The n-3 and n-6 PUFA levels in maternal erythrocytes at 27, 30, and 36 weeks of pregnancy were significantly positively correlated with the corresponding fatty acid levels in umbilical cord erythrocytes.

Conclusion: The present findings showed a significant change in erythrocyte PUFA levels during pregnancy and after childbirth in a fish-eating population. The PUFA levels of maternal blood after the second trimester may be a reliable marker for predicting PUFA levels in infants' circulating blood.

Keywords: pregnancy; arachidonic acid (ARA); docosahexaenoic acid (DHA); polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA); Japanese.

MeSH terms

Adult
Animals
Asian People
Biomarkers / blood
Diet
Docosahexaenoic Acids / blood*
Eicosapentaenoic Acid / blood*
Erythrocytes / chemistry*
Female
Fetal Blood / metabolism
Fishes
Gestational Age
Humans
Infant
Japan
Maternal-Fetal Exchange
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Trimester, Second / blood
Pregnancy Trimester, Third / blood
Seafood

Substances

Biomarkers
Docosahexaenoic Acids
Eicosapentaenoic Acid