Maternal but Not Fetal FADS Gene Variants Modify the Association between Maternal Long-Chain PUFA Intake in Pregnancy and Birth Weight

Background: With recent changes in legislation regulating recreational and medical cannabis use around the globe, increased use in pregnancy is to be expected. Objectives: To investigate the association between cannabis use during pregnancy and birth outcomes. Method: Data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), a prospective pregnancy cohort, were used. Participants were recruited from all over Norway between 1999 and 2008: 9,312 women with 10,373 pregnancies who reported use of cannabis before or in pregnancy. Women reported on their illegal drug use before pregnancy and at pregnancy weeks 17/18 and 30 and at 6 months postpartum. Linear regression was used to estimate crude and adjusted effects of prenatal cannabis exposure on birth outcomes. Results: In 10,101 pregnancies, women had used cannabis before pregnancy but not during pregnancy. In 272 pregnancies, women had used cannabis during pregnancy, and among these, in 63 pregnancies, women had used cannabis in at least 2 periods. In adjusted analyses for potential confounders, only cannabis use during at least 2 periods of pregnancy showed statistically significant effects on birth weight. The effect was observed in the complete cohort (B = −228 g, 95% CI = −354 to −102, p < 0.001) and for the subgroup where information about the child’s father was available (B = −225 g, 95% CI = −387 to −63, p = 0.01). Our results may indicate that prolonged use causes more harm, whereas short-term use did not indicate adverse effects on birth outcomes. Conclusions: There was a statistically significant and clinically relevant association between the use of cannabis during pregnancy and reduced birth weight. Clinicians should screen not only for cannabis use but also for the length and intensity of use as part of a comprehensive substance use screening.

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Dietary long-chain PUFA enhance acute repair of ischemia-injured intestine of suckling pigs.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.716747855.792102856 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

Kim Barrett

Keyword(s):

Chain Pufa ◽

Long Chain

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Prospective enzymes for omega-3 PUFA biosynthesis found in endoparasitic classes within the phylum Platyhelminthes

Journal of Helminthology ◽

10.1017/s0022149x20000954 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 94 ◽

Author(s):

D. Babaran ◽

M.T. Arts ◽

R.J. Botelho ◽

S.A. Locke ◽

J. Koprivnikar

Keyword(s):

Parasite Species ◽

De Novo ◽

Genomic Data ◽

Wide Distribution ◽

Omega 3 ◽

Free Living ◽

Chain Pufa ◽

Pufa Biosynthesis ◽

Aquatic Food ◽

Long Chain

Abstract The free-living infectious stages of macroparasites, specifically, the cercariae of trematodes (flatworms), are likely to be significant (albeit underappreciated) vectors of nutritionally important polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) to consumers within aquatic food webs, and other macroparasites could serve similar roles. In the context of de novo omega-3 (n-3) PUFA biosynthesis, it was thought that most animals lack the fatty acid (FA) desaturase enzymes that convert stearic acid (18:0) into ɑ-linolenic acid (ALA; 18:3n-3), the main FA precursor for n-3 long-chain PUFA. Recently, novel sequences of these enzymes were recovered from 80 species from six invertebrate phyla, with experimental confirmation of gene function in five phyla. Given this wide distribution, and the unusual attributes of flatworm genomes, we conducted an additional search for genes for de novo n-3 PUFA in the phylum Platyhelminthes. Searches with experimentally confirmed sequences from Rotifera recovered nine relevant FA desaturase sequences from eight species in four genera in the two exclusively endoparasite classes (Trematoda and Cestoda). These results could indicate adaptations of these particular parasite species, or may reflect the uneven taxonomic coverage of sequence databases. Although additional genomic data and, particularly, experimental study of gene functionality are important future validation steps, our results indicate endoparasitic platyhelminths may have enzymes for de novo n-3 PUFA biosynthesis, thereby contributing to global PUFA production, but also representing a potential target for clinical antihelmintic applications.

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