Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, Homocysteine at Birth and Fatty Acid Desaturase Gene Cluster Polymorphisms are Associated with Children’s Processing Speed up to Age 9 Years

• Main Authors: Cristina Campoy, Hatim Azaryah, Francisco J. Torres-Espínola, Cristina Martínez-Zaldívar, José Antonio García-Santos, Hans Demmelmair, Gudrun Haile, Eszter Györei, María del Carmen Ramírez-Tortosa, Eva Reischl, Peter Rzehak, Anne M. Molloy, Tamas Décsi, Juan de Dios Luna, Berthold Koletzko, Miguel Pérez-García
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-12-01
• Series: Nutrients
• Subjects: long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids; folate; prenatal supplementation; processing speed; neurodevelopment; <i>FADS</i> gene
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/1/131
• ISSN: 2072-6643

Both pre- and early postnatal supplementation with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), arachidonic acid (AA) and folate have been related to neural development, but their long-term effects on later neural function remain unclear. We evaluated the long-term effects of maternal prenatal supplementation with fish-oil (FO), 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF), placebo or FO + 5-MTHF, as well as the role of fatty acid desaturase (<i>FADS</i>) gene cluster polymorphisms, on their offspring’s processing speed at later school age. This study was conducted in NUHEAL children at 7.5 (<i>n </i>= 143) and 9 years of age (<i>n</i> = 127). Processing speed tasks were assessed using Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), Children Color Trails Test (CCTT) and Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT). Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, folate and total homocysteine (tHcy) levels were determined at delivery from maternal and cord blood samples. <i>FADS</i> and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (<i>MTHFR</i>) 677 C > T genetic polymorphisms were analyzed. Mixed models (linear and logistic) were performed. There were significant differences in processing speed performance among children at different ages (<i>p </i>< 0.001). The type of prenatal supplementation had no effect on processing speed in children up to 9 years. Secondary exploratory analyses indicated that children born to mothers with higher AA/DHA ratio at delivery (<i>p </i>< 0.001) and heterozygotes for <i>FADS1</i> rs174556 (<i>p </i>< 0.05) showed better performance in processing speed at 9 years. Negative associations between processing speed scores and maternal tHcy levels at delivery were found. Our findings suggest speed processing development in children up to 9 years could be related to maternal factors, including AA/DHA and tHcy levels, and their genetic background, mainly <i>FADS </i>polymorphism. These considerations support that maternal prenatal supplementation should be quantitatively adequate and individualized to obtain better brain development and mental performance in the offspring.