Omega-3 LCPUFA supplement: a nutritional strategy to prevent maternal and neonatal oxidative stress

Abstract

There is controversy about fish-oil supplementation and oxidative damage. This ambiguity should be explored to elucidate its role as modulator of oxidative stress, especially during gestation and postnatal life. This is the objective of this study. One hundred ten pregnant wom en were divided in two groups: control group CT (400 mL/day of the control dairy drink); supplemented group FO (400 mL/day of the fish oil-enriched dairy drink (±400-mg EPA-DHA/day)). Different biomarkers of oxidative damage were determined in the m other’s at enrolment, at delivery and at 2.5 and 4 months postpartum and newborns at delivery and at 2.5 mon ths postpartu m. Omega-3 LC-PUFA supplementation during pregnancy and lactation decreased plasma hydroperoxides especially in newborn at delivery (P = 0.001) and 2.5 months (P = 0.006), increased supe roxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in mothers at delivery (P = 0.024 (SOD)) and after 2.5 months (P = 0.040 (CAT)) and in newborns at 2.5 months (P = 0.035 (SOD); P = 0.021 (CAT)). Also, supplementation increased α-tocoferol in mothers at 2.5 months (P = 0.030) and in umbilical cord artery (P = 0.039). Higher levels of CoQ10 were found in mothers at delivery (P = 0.039) as well as in umbilical cord vein (P = 0.024) and artery (P = 0.036). Our supplementation prevents the oxidative stress in the mother and ne onate during the first months of postnatal life, being a potential preventive nutritional strategy to prevent functional alt erations associated with oxidative stress t hat have an important repercussion for the neonate development in the early postnatal life.