Perinatal programming by diets with essential fatty acid deficient/high saturated fatty acids or different n‐6/n‐3 ratios for diseases in adulthood

Abstract

Fatty acids are active components in membranes, they and their metabolic products influence cell signaling, ion channels, receptors, enzymes, and gene expression. The latter might be of special interest for programming in the perinatal period for diseases in adulthood, which is difficult to study prospectively in humans and thus hitherto mainly illustrated in animal experimental research. By supplying the pregnant and/or lactating rodent with essential fatty acid deficient diets exclusively based on saturated fat or with different ratios of n‐6/n‐3 fatty acids, programming could be studied in the adult offspring. Growth and body composition, lipids, blood pressure and glucose‐insulin homeostasis, and bone mass were influenced in the adult animal despite supplying ordinary chow after weaning. Also, the influence on allergy development was studied. In prospective observational studies in human infants, both essential fatty acid composition and the concentrations of long‐chain saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids during early weeks of life influenced the development up to 18 months corrected age. A few studies in humans with follow up to childhood support the results of animal studies, but larger studies with longer follow ups and including mechanisms for possible epigenetic mechanisms are warranted.Practical applicationsFatty acids influence gene expression and in the context of the global increase of non‐communicable diseases with possible relation to nutrition, studies in animals and humans to evaluate the relation between quality of dietary fatty acids and programming for adult diseases might have potential impact on public health.Fatty acids may program for diseases by influencing gene expression. The time window is of importance for the long‐term effects, as illustrated by different results of dietary maternal intervention during pregnancy or lactation in animal models. The results are supporting findings in follow up of individuals exposed to the Dutch Famine during the Second World War and by recent reports of prospective studies in infants and children. The potential impact on public health warrants eagerly further studies including mechanisms.