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Assessment of the Docosahexanoic Fatty Acid Status in the Post‐Partum Period in Alexandria, Egypt
Author(s) -
WALY MOSTAFA IBRAHIMAHMED,
HABIB YOSR ABDELAAL,
SALEM EGLAL GHONEIM,
DARWISH OLFAT ABDELHAMID
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.1093.2
Subject(s) - pregnancy , medicine , docosahexaenoic acid , population , polyunsaturated fatty acid , fortification , physiology , obstetrics , fatty acid , food science , environmental health , biology , biochemistry , genetics
Docosahexanoic acid (DHA) is a polyunsaturated fatty acid (PFA) of the omega‐3 series and is essential for the proper cognitive functions and normal development of nervous system. During pregnancy, the DHA requirement increase progressively as pregnancy advances and becomes the highest during the last trimester. Depletion of DHA as a result of inadequate supply or repeated pregnancy may induce neurological and psychological manifestations such as depression. This cross‐sectional study was conducted in Alexandria's maternal health centers and 250 women in the child bearing period were chosen for this study and the subjects were categorized into 4 groups, based on the number of pregnancies. Serum DHA measurement for the control group, who had no history of pregnancy, was 1.02 mg/mL, and we found that the serum DHA level for the other groups was decreased gradually with the increase in the number of pregnancies as follow, 0.51 mg/mL for the one pregnancy group, 0.082 mg/mL for the two pregnancies group, 0.073 for the three pregnancies group, and 0.042 mg/mL for the four pregnancies group. All subjects involved in this study had a low dietary intake of the rich sources of PFA. These findings suggest that the number of pregnancies is a stress factor contributing to the decreasing serum DHA level. Nutritional education and fortification of food with DHA should be considered to increase the dietary intake of the DHA to this population.