Does omega-3 DHA prevent preterm birth?
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Preterm birth (less than 37 weeks gestational age) and early preterm birth (less than 34 weeks gestational age), are the most significant causes of neonatal death. A large body of evidence suggests that daily DHA supplementation is associated with decreased rates of early preterm birth, particularly in women with low baseline DHA status. DHA supplementation presents an effective high yield, low-risk strategy to reduce early preterm birth.
Quantifying omega-3 levels in a pregnant woman's blood may be valuable to determine whether to increase intake from dietary sources or supplements. The Omega-3 Index measures the quantity of EPA + DHA as a percentage of total fatty acids in the red blood cell membrane. In this clip, Dr. Bill Harris discusses the importance of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA in the developing brain.
Dr. Patrick: And since we're talking about the brain, I mean, another area that I am very interested in much like your daughter who is also a PhD and she's also a registered dietitian as well.
Dr. Harris: Right. Kristina Jackson.
Dr. Patrick: Dr. Kristina Jackson. Is the role of omega-3 and development. And, you know, you guys at OmegaQuant are doing some really interesting...gathering some interesting data because you are looking at, and maybe you can talk about this, how you're looking at the omega-3 index in pregnant women and in lactating women.
Dr. Harris: Yeah. Right. I think one of the high points of omega-3 research has been a Cochrane report from a couple of years ago, reporting that looking at 70 trials in pregnant women given omega-3, that giving them omega-3 reduces risk for premature birth, especially early premature birth, before 34 weeks. Premature birth, garden variety is before 37. But the effect on reducing risk for early premature, which is the most challenging one for the baby and the mother and the NICU and the entire financial system, reducing risks for that. And, in fact, in this meta-analysis, Middleton was the first author on this meta-analysis. They said at this point, no more research should be done on this. So the question is settled. And then two months later, the biggest study done in the field came out negative. Which is the ORIP trial from Australia. But in that trial, unfortunately, there was apparently compliance with DHA supplementation that was not very good.
So the change in the omega-3 index was not much in that big trial, so they didn't see a benefit. It could be because women weren't taking it. That's a problem. But we do have a test we developed at OmegaQuant called the RBC...Mothers DHA test, RBC DHA test. I can't remember the name of it. I'm going to get in trouble. But anyway, it's a test for pregnant women to measure their red cell DHA levels. And we think being over 5% is where you want to be. I mean, there's no guarantees you're going to prevent preterm birth. There's so many factors that go into why a woman delivers early, but from the risk factors we can control. If you're down at 3%, that's the high risk group for preterm birth, over 5% is not a problem. So it's something a obstetrician could easily measure, dry blood spot tests, could measure that and counsel a pregnant woman, you're too low, take more, you know, you're already supposed to take DHA. People know it, but if you have a blood test that says you're low, you might actually do it. It's the compliance issue. I think. So that's an important area of research now to try to figure out how to operationalize that, get that in the clinic, get the use of an omega-3 test in pregnancy in the clinic.
Dr. Patrick: This 5% omega-3 index, you're talking about it in the context of potentially helping prevent premature birth. What about...
Dr. Harris: Development?
Dr. Patrick: Brain development.
Dr. Harris: Brain development. Yeah. I mean, that's the other side of it. We're looking at mom and the delivery issue with premature birth, but yeah, there's plenty of evidence that having a higher omega-3 level in mom... I mean, it's mixed evidence as is everything. If you look several years down the road, kids are doing better in some studies. They're not doing worse, they're never doing worse. They're either doing no different or better. Yeah. And so there's a long-term benefit probably to the kid for having higher omega-3 in utero.
Dr. Patrick: I think there was a recent study that was published where it was a randomized trial where women were given like 200 milligrams of DHA or 1,000, correct?
Dr. Harris: Right. It's KUDOS. It's a study from, no, ADORE was the name of it from Kansas University, Susan Carlson, they published it and they found a benefit in preterm birth, but they also found benefits and other adverse outcomes, reduced risk for adverse outcomes in the delivery. At this point, they haven't looked at mental outcomes in the baby, this is all about birth.
Dr. Patrick: Okay. All right. So I'm thinking about their study, but yeah. So it's very important, I think.
An omega-3 fatty acid found in the human brain and the meat of fatty fish. DHA plays a key role in the development of eye and nerve tissues, and is essential for normal brain function in humans. DHA may also reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease1 and cardiovascular disease, and may be useful in treating certain inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis. Dietary sources of DHA include krill oil and the meat and roe of salmon, flying fish, and pollock. [1] Patrick, Rhonda P. "Role of phosphatidylcholine-DHA in preventing APOE4-associated Alzheimer’s disease." The FASEB Journal (2018): fj-201801412R.
A type of polyunsaturated fat that is essential for human health. Omega-3 fatty acids influence cell membrane integrity and affect the function of membrane-bound cellular receptors. They participate in pathways involved in the biosynthesis of hormones that regulate blood clotting, contraction and relaxation of artery walls, and inflammation. They have been shown to help prevent heart disease and stroke, may help control lupus, eczema, and rheumatoid arthritis, and may play protective roles in cancer and other conditions. Omega-3 fatty acids include alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). ALA is found mainly in plant oils such as flaxseed, soybean, and canola oils. DHA and EPA are found in fish and other seafood. The human body can convert some ALA into EPA and then to DHA, but the efficiency of the process varies between individuals.
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