Gestational age in relation to marine n-3 fatty acids in maternal erythrocytes:a study of women in the Faroe Islands and Denmark
Gestation is longer in Faroese than Danish women, possibly because of the high intake of marine long-chain n-3 fatty acids that down regulates formation of prostaglandins from arachidonic acid. Polyunsaturated fatty acids were quantified in erythrocytes obtained within 2 days of delivery from random...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1991
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/gestational-age-in-relation-to-marine-n3-fatty-acids-in-maternal-erythrocytes(7591b36e-f53a-439e-8ec2-394a704faef4).html http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0025793617&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
| Summary: | Gestation is longer in Faroese than Danish women, possibly because of the high intake of marine long-chain n-3 fatty acids that down regulates formation of prostaglandins from arachidonic acid. Polyunsaturated fatty acids were quantified in erythrocytes obtained within 2 days of delivery from randomly selected groups of 62 Faroese and 37 Danish women with an assessable gestational age. Average ratio of long-chain n-3 fatty acids to arachidonic acid [(3/6) ratio] was 0.73 (SD = 0.11) in Faroese women and 0.61 (SD = 0.12) in Danish women (p <0.0001), corresponding to the higher intake of marine n-3 fatty acids in the Faroes. A 20% increase in the (3/6) ratio was associated with an increase in pregnancy duration of 5.7 days in Danish women (95% confidence interval, 1.4 to 10.1 days; p = 0.02) and 0.7 days in Faroese women (95% confidence interval, -2.0 to 3.3; p = 0.6). The hypothesized expposure-effect relationship may be weaker or absent at the higher level of exposure seen in the Faroese group. |
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