TY - JOUR
T1 - Serum docosahexaenoic acid levels are associated with brain volumes in extremely preterm born infants
AU - Hortensius, Lisa M
AU - Hellström, William
AU - Sävman, Karin
AU - Heckemann, Rolf A
AU - Björkman-Burtscher, Isabella M
AU - Groenendaal, Floris
AU - Andersson, Mats X
AU - Nilsson, Anders K
AU - Tataranno, Maria Luisa
AU - van Elburg, Ruurd M
AU - Hellström, Ann
AU - Benders, Manon J N L
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank all infants and their parents who participated and all clinical and research staff involved in the clinical trial. This study was supported by the Swedish Medical Research Council #2016-01131, The Gothenburg Medical Society, and Government grants under the ALF agreement ALFGBG-717971, De Blindas Vänner and Knut and Alice Wallenberg Clinical Scholars. This work used computing resources of the UK MEDical BIOinformatics partnership—aggregation, integration, visualization, and analysis of large, complex data (UK MED-BIO), which is supported by the Medical Research Council [grant number MR/L01632X/1]. This work used computing resources provided by the Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing (SNIC) at Chalmers Centre for Computational Science and Engineering (C3SE), partially funded by the Swedish Research Council through grant agreement no. 2018-05973. L.M.H. received funding from the Athena grant, “Utrecht Center for Food and Health—research program specialized nutrition,” subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Utrecht Province and the municipality of Utrecht. I.B.-B. received grants from the Sahlgrenska University Hospital (SU 2018-03591, SU 2018-04164, ALFGBG-925851) and the University of Gothenburg (E2018/478).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to the International Pediatric Research Foundation, Inc.
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - Background: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (AA) are important for fetal brain growth and development. Our aim was to evaluate the association between serum DHA and AA levels and brain volumes in extremely preterm infants. Methods: Infants born at <28 weeks gestational age in 2013–2015, a cohort derived from a randomized controlled trial comparing two types of parenteral lipid emulsions, were included (n = 90). Serum DHA and AA levels were measured at postnatal days 1, 7, 14, and 28, and the area under the curve was calculated. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was performed at term-equivalent age (n = 66), and volumes of six brain regions were automatically generated. Results: After MR image quality assessment and area under the curve calculation, 48 infants were included (gestational age mean [SD] 25.5 [1.4] weeks). DHA levels were positively associated with total brain (B = 7.966, p = 0.012), cortical gray matter (B = 3.653, p = 0.036), deep gray matter (B = 0.439, p = 0.014), cerebellar (B = 0.932, p = 0.003), and white matter volume (B = 3.373, p = 0.022). AA levels showed no association with brain volumes. Conclusions: Serum DHA levels during the first 28 postnatal days were positively associated with volumes of several brain structures in extremely preterm infants at term-equivalent age. Impact: Higher serum levels of DHA in the first 28 postnatal days are positively associated with brain volumes at term-equivalent age in extremely preterm born infants.Especially the most immature infants suffer from low DHA levels in the first 28 postnatal days, with little increase over time.Future research is needed to explore whether postnatal fatty acid supplementation can improve brain development and may serve as a nutritional preventive and therapeutic treatment option in extremely preterm infants.
AB - Background: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (AA) are important for fetal brain growth and development. Our aim was to evaluate the association between serum DHA and AA levels and brain volumes in extremely preterm infants. Methods: Infants born at <28 weeks gestational age in 2013–2015, a cohort derived from a randomized controlled trial comparing two types of parenteral lipid emulsions, were included (n = 90). Serum DHA and AA levels were measured at postnatal days 1, 7, 14, and 28, and the area under the curve was calculated. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was performed at term-equivalent age (n = 66), and volumes of six brain regions were automatically generated. Results: After MR image quality assessment and area under the curve calculation, 48 infants were included (gestational age mean [SD] 25.5 [1.4] weeks). DHA levels were positively associated with total brain (B = 7.966, p = 0.012), cortical gray matter (B = 3.653, p = 0.036), deep gray matter (B = 0.439, p = 0.014), cerebellar (B = 0.932, p = 0.003), and white matter volume (B = 3.373, p = 0.022). AA levels showed no association with brain volumes. Conclusions: Serum DHA levels during the first 28 postnatal days were positively associated with volumes of several brain structures in extremely preterm infants at term-equivalent age. Impact: Higher serum levels of DHA in the first 28 postnatal days are positively associated with brain volumes at term-equivalent age in extremely preterm born infants.Especially the most immature infants suffer from low DHA levels in the first 28 postnatal days, with little increase over time.Future research is needed to explore whether postnatal fatty acid supplementation can improve brain development and may serve as a nutritional preventive and therapeutic treatment option in extremely preterm infants.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85112725745&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41390-021-01645-w
DO - 10.1038/s41390-021-01645-w
M3 - Article
C2 - 34392310
SN - 0031-3998
VL - 90
SP - 1177
EP - 1185
JO - Pediatric Research
JF - Pediatric Research
IS - 6
ER -