Maternal Fiber Dietary Intakes during Pregnancy and Infant Allergic Disease.

Rachelle A Pretorius,Debra J Palmer,Susan L Prescott,Marie Bodinier

doi:10.3390/nu11081767

Abstract

Maternal diet during pregnancy plays a likely role in infant immune development through both direct nutrient specific immunomodulatory effects and by modulating the composition and metabolic activity of the maternal gut microbiome. Dietary fibers, as major substrates for microbial fermentation, are of interest in this context. This is the first study to examine maternal intakes of different fiber sub-types and subsequent infant allergic disease. In an observational study of 639 mother–infant pairs (all infants had a family history of allergic disease) we examined maternal intakes of total fiber, soluble fiber, insoluble fiber, resistant starch, and prebiotic fiber, by a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire at 36–40 weeks’ gestation. Infants attended an allergy clinical assessment at 12 months of age, including skin prick testing to common allergens. Higher maternal dietary intakes of resistant starch were associated with reduced doctor diagnosed infant wheeze, adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.68 (95% CI 0.49, 0.95, p = 0.02). However, in contrast, higher maternal intakes of resistant starch were associated with higher risk of parent reported eczema aOR 1.27 (95% CI 1.09, 1.49, p < 0.01) and doctor diagnosed eczema aOR 1.19 (95% CI 1.01, 1.41, p = 0.04). In conclusion, maternal resistant starch consumption was differentially associated with infant phenotypes, with reduced risk of infant wheeze, but increased risk of eczema.

Highlights

Family history remains a strong predictor of allergic disease [1,2,3,4], changes in the early environment are implicated in the dramatic increase in early-onset allergic disease, most notably the maternal diet and lifestyle during pregnancy [1,4,5,6]
After adjustment for potential confounders, the relationship with maternal dietary intakes remained significant for the association between higher maternal resistant starch intakes and lower risk of doctor diagnosed wheeze, adjusted odds ratio 0.68 (Table 5)
Higher maternal resistant starch dietary intakes late pregnancy were identified to be associated with infant doctor diagnosed eczema without allergen sensitization adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.29

Summary

Introduction

Family history remains a strong predictor of allergic disease [1,2,3,4], changes in the early environment are implicated in the dramatic increase in early-onset allergic disease, most notably the maternal diet and lifestyle during pregnancy [1,4,5,6]. Traditional maternal dietary patterns rich in fish, fruit and vegetables, and specific nutrients (fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, selenium, and antioxidant vitamins) have been associated with reduced risk of allergic disease in offspring [13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20]. While many of these factors have direct immunomodulatory effects, there is growing evidence that immunoprotective benefits may be mediated through favorable effects on the gut microbiome [12,21,22]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion