Looking to Reduce Childhood Allergies? Omega-3 PUFA During Pregnancy Could Help 31 Jan 2012
In a clinical trial published yesterday, Palmer and co-workers studied the effects of omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation (LC PUFA) in pregnancy on the development of allergy in children. Allergy is very common, and can manifest itself as minor symptoms such as hay fever and sneezing, less pleasant symptoms like eczema, and potentially life-threatening asthma and anaphylactic shock. There are multiple triggers for allergies. These range from pollen and dust mites to natural foods like eggs, cows’ milk, nuts and seafood as well as chemicals and cigarette smoke. Food allergies are different from food intolerance due to the involvement of the immune system. True food allergies can be detected in the blood from measuring immunoglobulin E antibodies to a specific allergen. Allergies can be seen as the unfortunate consequence of an over-active immune system. Food allergies and eczema normally are highest in children until they reach school age. LC PUFA have been identified as a potential protecting factor against allergy because they help to regulate the immune response.
Some statistics about allergies highlight how widespread they are around the world:
> 1 in 5 Americans have allergies
> 4 in 10 Australians and New Zealanders have allergies
> 6 – 19% of German children have atopical eczema and 22% of adults have hay fever
> 10% of Dutch adults have hay fever and 5 to 7% have a food allergy
> More than 20% of French adults are allergic to pollen
The study published today by Palmer recruited 700 pregnant women who took 900 mg omega-3 long chain fatty acids or placebo daily from 21 weeks’ gestation until the birth of their child. Allergies were measured at one year of age by various methods including immunoglobulin E sensitization and symptoms of allergies including eczema.
Infants whose mothers were supplemented with omega-3 LC PUFA showed a significantly lower incidence of eczema with sensitization; 7% in the LC PUFA group compared with 12% in the control group. There was also a significant reduction in sensitization to egg (9% vs 15%), the most common allergy found in the group. There were also borderline-significant reductions in total allergic disease with sensitization, immunoglobulin sensitization alone, and the number of hospital admissions per child, with lower incidences in the supplemented group. These may have reached significance in a larger study group.
These results are important because they show that omega-3 PUFA supplementation can reduce allergies at one year of age, when eczema incidence reaches its peak. The authors will be following the children in the study to four years of age.
Main reference:
Palmer DJ, Sullivan T, Gold MS, Prescott SL, Heddle R, Gibson RA, Makrides M. Effect of n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation in pregnancy on infants’ allergies in first year of life: randomised controlled trialBMJ 2012; 344 doi: 10.1136/bmj.e184
