Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, Homocysteine at Birth and Fatty Acid Desaturase Gene Cluster Polymorphisms Are Associated with Children’s Processing Speed up to Age 9 Years

Abstract

Both pre- and early postnatal supplementation with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), arachidonic acid (AA) and folate have been related to neural development, but their long-term effects on later neural function remain unclear. We evaluated the long-term effects of maternal prenatal supplementation with fish-oil (FO), 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF), placebo or FO + 5-MTHF, as well as the role of fatty acid desaturase (FADS) gene cluster polymorphisms, on their offspring’s processing speed at later school age. This study was conducted in NUHEAL children at 7.5 (n = 143) and 9 years of age (n = 127). Processing speed tasks were assessed using Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), Children Color Trails Test (CCTT) and Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT). Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, folate and total homocysteine (tHcy) levels were determined at delivery from maternal and cord blood samples. FADS and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) 677 C > T genetic polymorphisms were analyzed. Mixed models (linear and logistic) were performed. There were significant differences in processing speed performance among children at different ages (p p FADS1 rs174556 (p FADS polymorphism. These considerations support that maternal prenatal supplementation should be quantitatively adequate and individualized to obtain better brain development and mental performance in the offspring.

Keywords

• long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids
• folate
• prenatal supplementation
• processing speed
• neurodevelopment
• <i>FADS</i> gene