Premium
Association of breast milk fatty acids with allergic disease outcomes—A systematic review
Author(s) -
Waidyatillake N. T.,
Dharmage S. C.,
Allen K. J.,
Lodge C. J.,
Simpson J. A.,
Bowatte G.,
Abramson M. J.,
Lowe A. J.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
allergy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.363
H-Index - 173
eISSN - 1398-9995
pISSN - 0105-4538
DOI - 10.1111/all.13300
Subject(s) - medicine , polyunsaturated fatty acid , wheeze , breastfeeding , breast milk , disease , allergy , asthma , etiology , colostrum , breast feeding , cohort study , physiology , immunology , fatty acid , pediatrics , biology , biochemistry , antibody
Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids ( PUFA s) have immunoregulatory properties. Breast milk is rich in PUFA , and it has been hypothesized that these PUFA s may be important in the aetiology of allergic diseases. Despite a growing body of evidence, the associations between breast milk PUFA and allergic disease have not previously been systematically reviewed. Methods The search was performed in PubMed and EMBASE databases using breastfeeding, fatty acid and allergic disease terms. Two authors were involved in selecting papers for review according to the inclusion criteria and extracting information on study characteristics and measures of association. Only studies that reported numeric associations between concentration of breast milk fatty acids and allergic disease outcomes were included. Results A total of 18 papers met the inclusion criteria, reporting results from 15 study populations. The majority were cohort studies (n=11), with data from only two case‐control and two cross‐sectional studies. Sample size varied between 30 and 352 participants, and follow‐up time of the cohorts varied between 3 months and 14 years. Nine studies reported on eczema, seven reported on sensitization, and only five reported on asthma/wheeze. There was heterogeneity among studies in terms of presenting the association between PUFA and allergy; therefore, estimates could not be pooled. Only a few studies observed associations between n‐3 and n‐6 PUFA s and allergic disease, and the magnitude of this effect varied greatly. Conclusions There is insufficient evidence to suggest that colostrum or breast milk polyunsaturated fatty acids influence the risk of childhood allergic diseases.