Associations of prenatal methylmercury exposure and maternal polyunsaturated fatty acid status with neurodevelopmental outcomes at 7 years of age : results from the Seychelles Child Development Study Nutrition Cohort 2
Strain, J. J. ; Love, Tanzy M. ; Yeates, Alison J. ; Weller, Daniel ; Mulhern, Maria S. ; McSorley, Emeir M. ; Thurston, Sally W. ; Watson, Gene E. ; Mruzek, Daniel and Broberg, Karin LU
, et al.
(2021)
In The American journal of clinical nutrition
113(2).
p.304-313
- Abstract
BACKGROUND: Fish is a primary source of protein and n-3 PUFA but also contains methylmercury (MeHg), a naturally occurring neurotoxicant to which, at sufficient exposure levels, the developing fetal brain is particularly sensitive. OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between prenatal MeHg and maternal status of n-3 and n-6 PUFA with neurodevelopment, and to determine whether PUFA might modify prenatal MeHg associations with neurodevelopment. METHODS: We examined the Seychelles Child Development Study Nutrition Cohort 2 (NC2) at age 7 y. We used a sophisticated and extensive neurodevelopmental test battery that addressed 17 specific outcomes in multiple neurodevelopmental domains: cognition, executive and psychomotor function,... (More)
BACKGROUND: Fish is a primary source of protein and n-3 PUFA but also contains methylmercury (MeHg), a naturally occurring neurotoxicant to which, at sufficient exposure levels, the developing fetal brain is particularly sensitive. OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between prenatal MeHg and maternal status of n-3 and n-6 PUFA with neurodevelopment, and to determine whether PUFA might modify prenatal MeHg associations with neurodevelopment. METHODS: We examined the Seychelles Child Development Study Nutrition Cohort 2 (NC2) at age 7 y. We used a sophisticated and extensive neurodevelopmental test battery that addressed 17 specific outcomes in multiple neurodevelopmental domains: cognition, executive and psychomotor function, language development, behavior, scholastic achievement, and social communication. Analyses were undertaken on 1237 mother-child pairs with complete covariate data (after exclusions) and a measure of at least 1 outcome. We examined the main and interactive associations of prenatal MeHg exposure (measured as maternal hair mercury) and prenatal PUFA status (measured in maternal serum at 28 weeks' gestation) on child neurodevelopmental outcomes using linear regression models. We applied the Bonferroni correction to account for multiple comparisons and considered P values <0.0029 to be statistically significant. RESULTS: Prenatal MeHg exposure and maternal DHA and arachidonic acid (20:4n-6) (AA) status were not significantly associated with any neurodevelopmental outcomes. Findings for 4 outcomes encompassing executive function, cognition, and linguistic skills suggested better performance with an increasing maternal n-6:n-3 PUFA ratio (P values ranging from 0.004 to 0.05), but none of these associations were significant after adjusting for multiple comparisons. No significant interaction between MeHg exposure and PUFA status was present. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings do not support an association between prenatal MeHg exposure or maternal DHA and AA status with neurodevelopmental outcomes at age 7 y. The roles of n-6 and n-3 PUFA in child neurodevelopment need further research.
(Less)
- author
- Strain, J. J.
; Love, Tanzy M.
; Yeates, Alison J.
; Weller, Daniel
; Mulhern, Maria S.
; McSorley, Emeir M.
; Thurston, Sally W.
; Watson, Gene E.
; Mruzek, Daniel
and Broberg, Karin
LU
, et al. (More)
- Strain, J. J.
; Love, Tanzy M.
; Yeates, Alison J.
; Weller, Daniel
; Mulhern, Maria S.
; McSorley, Emeir M.
; Thurston, Sally W.
; Watson, Gene E.
; Mruzek, Daniel
; Broberg, Karin
LU
; Rand, Matthew D.
; Henderson, Juliette
; Shamlaye, Conrad F.
; Myers, Gary J.
; Davidson, Philip W.
and van Wijngaarden, Edwin
(Less)
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- child neurodevelopment, maternal fish consumption, n-6:n-3 ratio, polyunsaturated fatty acids, prenatal methylmercury
- in
- The American journal of clinical nutrition
- volume
- 113
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 10 pages
- publisher
- Oxford University Press
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85102221796
- pmid:33330939
- ISSN
- 1938-3207
- DOI
- 10.1093/ajcn/nqaa338
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- d40ffa69-58b6-47d1-b078-5a48e817dcc2
- date added to LUP
- 2021-03-26 10:54:44
- date last changed
- 2024-06-16 11:04:31
@article{d40ffa69-58b6-47d1-b078-5a48e817dcc2,
abstract = {{<p>BACKGROUND: Fish is a primary source of protein and n-3 PUFA but also contains methylmercury (MeHg), a naturally occurring neurotoxicant to which, at sufficient exposure levels, the developing fetal brain is particularly sensitive. OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between prenatal MeHg and maternal status of n-3 and n-6 PUFA with neurodevelopment, and to determine whether PUFA might modify prenatal MeHg associations with neurodevelopment. METHODS: We examined the Seychelles Child Development Study Nutrition Cohort 2 (NC2) at age 7 y. We used a sophisticated and extensive neurodevelopmental test battery that addressed 17 specific outcomes in multiple neurodevelopmental domains: cognition, executive and psychomotor function, language development, behavior, scholastic achievement, and social communication. Analyses were undertaken on 1237 mother-child pairs with complete covariate data (after exclusions) and a measure of at least 1 outcome. We examined the main and interactive associations of prenatal MeHg exposure (measured as maternal hair mercury) and prenatal PUFA status (measured in maternal serum at 28 weeks' gestation) on child neurodevelopmental outcomes using linear regression models. We applied the Bonferroni correction to account for multiple comparisons and considered P values <0.0029 to be statistically significant. RESULTS: Prenatal MeHg exposure and maternal DHA and arachidonic acid (20:4n-6) (AA) status were not significantly associated with any neurodevelopmental outcomes. Findings for 4 outcomes encompassing executive function, cognition, and linguistic skills suggested better performance with an increasing maternal n-6:n-3 PUFA ratio (P values ranging from 0.004 to 0.05), but none of these associations were significant after adjusting for multiple comparisons. No significant interaction between MeHg exposure and PUFA status was present. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings do not support an association between prenatal MeHg exposure or maternal DHA and AA status with neurodevelopmental outcomes at age 7 y. The roles of n-6 and n-3 PUFA in child neurodevelopment need further research.</p>}},
author = {{Strain, J. J. and Love, Tanzy M. and Yeates, Alison J. and Weller, Daniel and Mulhern, Maria S. and McSorley, Emeir M. and Thurston, Sally W. and Watson, Gene E. and Mruzek, Daniel and Broberg, Karin and Rand, Matthew D. and Henderson, Juliette and Shamlaye, Conrad F. and Myers, Gary J. and Davidson, Philip W. and van Wijngaarden, Edwin}},
issn = {{1938-3207}},
keywords = {{child neurodevelopment; maternal fish consumption; n-6:n-3 ratio; polyunsaturated fatty acids; prenatal methylmercury}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{304--313}},
publisher = {{Oxford University Press}},
series = {{The American journal of clinical nutrition}},
title = {{Associations of prenatal methylmercury exposure and maternal polyunsaturated fatty acid status with neurodevelopmental outcomes at 7 years of age : results from the Seychelles Child Development Study Nutrition Cohort 2}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqaa338}},
doi = {{10.1093/ajcn/nqaa338}},
volume = {{113}},
year = {{2021}},
}