Pre-pregnancy Dietary Intake of Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acids and the Risk of Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy. (7th June 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Arvizu, Mariel; Minguez-Alarcon, Lidia; Stuart, Jennifer; Mitsunami, Makiko; Rich-Edwards, Janet; Rosner, Bernard; Chavarro, Jorge
• Is Part Of: Current developments in nutrition. Volume 5(2021)Supplement 2
• Page Start: 709
• Page End: 709
• Publication Date: 2021-06-07
• Subjects: Nutrition -- Periodicals; Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Nutrition; Periodicals; Periodicals; Fulltext; Internet Resources; Periodicals; 612.3
• DOI: 10.1093/cdn/nzab046_006
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2475-2991

Abstract

Abstract: Objectives: To evaluate whether pre-pregnancy intakes of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids prevent HDP. Methods: We followed 11, 535 women from the Nurses' Health Study-II free of chronic disease that filled out food frequency questionnaires starting in 1991 before their 16, 892 singleton pregnancies. Intakes of omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid[ALA] + long-chain omega-3 [LCN-3]) and omega-6 (linoleic acid [LA] + arachidonic acid[ARA]). In 2009, participants reported history of preeclampsia and GHTN. The relative risk (95%CI) of HDP across quintiles of intakes of omega-3 and omega-6 were estimated by log-binomial regression model using generalized estimating equation to account for repeated pregnancies from the same woman and adjusted for age at pregnancy, year of pregnancy, and pre-pregnancy: BMI, physical activity, smoking, infertility diagnosis, marital status, race, parity, multivitamin use, concurrent gestational diabetes, and preeclampsia at baseline. Results: During 18 years of follow-up, there were 495 pregnancies with preeclampsia (2.9%) and 561 pregnancies (3.3%) with GHTN. Mean (SD) age at pregnancy was 34.6 (3.9) years. Intakes of total omega-6 and total omega-3 fatty acids before pregnancy were unrelated with the risk of either HDP. From individual omega subtypes, only ARA had a marginally significant relation to higher risk of GHTN. Women in the highest quintile of ARA had 43% increased risk of GHTN (CI: 1.00–2.04) compared to women in the lowest quintile of intake. Intakes of the remaining subtypes, LA, LCN-3, and ALA were not associated to HDP risk. When we restricted the analysis to a closer window of exposure among 5, 208 women with diet assessment one year before pregnancy, only intakes of LCN-3 (RR = 0.55, CI:0.33–0.91) and LA (RR = 0.54, CI: 0.29, 0.99) were associated with a lower risk of preeclampsia, comparing women in the highest versus the lowest quintile of intake. Conclusions: Dietary intake of long-chain omega-3 fatty acid and linoleic acid one year before pregnancy was associated with a reduced risk of preeclampsia. The extent to which long-chain omega-3 prevents preeclampsia may be more relevant in a window of exposure closer to pregnancy. Funding Sources: National Institutes of Health grants U01-HL145386–01, UM1-CA176726, P30-DK046200, and R00ES026648.