Early life heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) reflect autonomic maturation. Intervention with n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) during pregnancy favorably affects fetal HR and HRV; similar observations have been reported with infant n-3 LCPUFA intake. Infant HR and HRV have not been assessed in relation to maternal fatty acid status during pregnancy. Further, exposure to intrauterine inflammation may underlie these observations, although this hypothesis has not been tested. The aim of this observational study was to explore associations between maternal fatty acid and inflammatory status during pregnancy and infant HR and HRV. Simple linear and multiple regression were used to describe relationships for infant HR and HRV at 2 weeks, 4 months, and 6 months of age and: 1) maternal erythrocyte n-6 and n-3 fatty acids, 2) maternal plasma n-6 and n-3 endocannabinoids, and 3) maternal serum cytokines (interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α), adipokine (adiponectin), and acute phase reactant (C-reactive protein) at 20, 24, 32, and 36 gestational weeks. Higher maternal n-3 fatty acid status, especially DHA, during pregnancy was inversely related to infant HR and positively related to HRV; the inverse was observed for n-6 fatty acids. Maternal n-3 endocannabinoids during pregnancy were inversely related with infant HR and positively related to infant HRV. Conversely, when the n-6:n-3 endocannabinoid ratio more heavily favored the n-6 endocannabinoid series, there was a positive and inverse association with infant HR and HRV, respectively. Limited associations between the other inflammatory biomarkers (interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, adiponectin, C-reactive protein) and infant HR/HRV were observed. As such, we cannot definitively conclude there is a link between intrauterine exposure to these biomarkers and infant autonomic development. These data build on existing literature evidencing a role for n-3 fatty acids in accelerating fetal and infant autonomic development and may indicate an anti-inflammatory role for n-3 endocannabinoids. This study is the first to examine potential relationships between maternal fatty acid status, maternal inflammation, and infant autonomic development. Further, this study is the first to examine endocannabinoids in relation to HR and HRV in any population.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-06192017-184812 |
| Date | 27 June 2017 |
| Creators | Drewery, Merritt LeAnne |
| Contributors | Laine, Roger, Spedale, Steve, Tuuri, Georgianna, Lammi-Keefe, Carol |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-06192017-184812/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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