Lotte Lauritzen1, Helle L. Harbild1, Laurine B.S. Harsløf1, & Jeppe H. Christensen2 1Dept. of Human Nutrition, University of Copenhagen, & 2Dept. of Nephrology, Aarhus University Hospital-Aalborg, Denmark

Area: 27/911

Introduction: Intake of marine n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LCPUFA) has been shown to improve perinatal development of the central nervous system (CNS) and to reduce risk of cardiovascular dysfunction late in life.

Design: a 2×2-intervention, healthy 9 mo-old infants, who were randomized to ±FO (3.4±1.1 ml/d) and cow’s milk or formula for 3 mo - 83 (87%) infants completed the trial.Outcomes: free play-test (successfully completed by 63), 0.5-h ECG recordings (successfully completed by 57). 39 infants had both set of data at both 9 and 12 mo. Compliance: Erythrocyte eicosapentaenoic acid (RBC-EPA).

Statistics: only for ±FO, as milk did not affect outcomes. Group comparisons are gender and baseline adjusted.

Poster Reference Number:

Subject characteristics (x±SD (n)) +FO -FO P Gender, Female/Male 21/19 (39) 21/23 (44) 0,667 Gestational age (wks) 39,6 ± 1,3 (39) 39,7 ± 1,4 (44) 0,987 Birth weight (kg) 3,7 ± 0,5 (39) 3,7 ± 0,5 (44) 0,931 Maternal education (y) 17,0 ± 2,7 (39) 17,2 ± 2,7 (44) 0,734 Exclusive breast-feeding (mo) 4,1 ± 1,6 (38) 4,1 ± 1,6 (43) 0,897 Partial breast-feeding 9-12 mo (yes/no) 11/28 24/20 0,014*

Visit (n +FO/-FO) Age at study entry (mo±wks) Duration of trial (mo±wks)

(46/49)(39/44)

9,09 ± 0,31 3,04 ± 0,19

9,10 ± 0,28 2,99 ± 0,19

0,8000,217

Length at 9 mo (cm) Growth 9-12 mo (cm)

(46/48)(39/42)

72,03 ± 2,18 3,65 ± 0,92

72,25 ± 2,31 3,81 ± 0,95

0,6400,455

Weight at 9 mo (kg) Weight gain 9-12 mo (kg)

(46/49)(39/44)

9,25 ± 0,89 0,77 ± 0,33

9,05 ± 0,80 0,72 ± 0,32

0,2790,472

9 mo head circumference (cm) Increase in HC (cm)

(46/49)(39/44)

45,97 ± 1,38 0,97 ± 0,60

45,91 ± 1,44 0,83 ± 0,65

0,8440,315

r2=0.103, p=0.053, n=39

r2=0.740, p<0.001, n=53

Objective: to investigate if fish oil (FO)-supplementation in late infancy modifies heart rate (HR) and score on a free play-test and to see if these changes are related to one another.

Conclusions: As both CNS-regulated functions are affected in parallel, this may imply that the “cognitive” and the “cardiovascular” effects of n-3 LCPUFA are related. The results furthermore show that n-3 LCPUFA also in late infancy influence CNS-development.

Fish oil-supplementation in 9-12 mo old infants affects heart rate and attention in a free play-test

Results:

1) FO-supplementation raised RBC-EPA in a dose-response manner to a final concentration of 3.2±0.2 % of the RBC fatty acids in the +FO-group vs. 0.7±0.2 % in –FO at 12 mo (p<0.001) (J. Nutr. 136: 94-99, 2006).

2) Most of the free play-scores differed significantly with age and gender. The only score difference between ±FO was an increase in the number of quite inattention episodes in +FO relative to a decrease in -FO. The increase in quite inattention was associated with the increase RBC-EPA (r2=0.122, p=0.040, n=35).

3) FO-supplementation lead to an degrease in HR (mainly in boys) and this too was associated with RBC-EPA (rRR

2=0.506, p<0.001, n=30 – not shown, but published in Ped. Res. 64 (6): 610-614, 2008).

4) The changes in mean RR-interval and in number of quite inattentive episodes were nearly correlated.

Cognitive scores (x±SD and repeated measure test)

Age (mo)

+FO -FO psex(at 9 mo)

page(12 vs. 9 mo)

pfish oil(9-12 mo-) Girls (n=14) Boys (n=14) Girls (n=14) Boys (n=21)

Relative time on (%) 9 72±22 84±11 73±17 79±120.010 0.005 0.70512 62±17 72±17 69±13 73±14

Δ 9-12 -9±24 -12±22 -4±22 -6±16Time/look on (sec/look)

9 18±19 25±14 21±25 18±90.328 0.001 0.89212 9±3 13±5 11±5 13±4

Δ 9-12 -9±18 -12±14 -5±9 -7±17No. of looks off (Avg time/look off ≈5 sec at both 9 & 12 mo)

9 14±6 11±5 12±8 15±60.348

0.001Interaction age*sex*FO

p=0.0410.43012 20±6 19±6 21±7 18±4

Δ 9-12 6±8 8±6 9±8 2±9- No. due to parent interaction

9 0.8±1.2 0.2±0.4 0.4±0.6 0.6±1.10.631 0.104 0.923

Interaction sex*FO p=0.071

12 0.2±0.4 0.2±0.4 0.2±0.4 0.3±0.5Δ 9-12 -0.6±1.5 0.0±0.6 -0.1±0.8 -0.2±1.3

- No. due to social reference

9 9±6 9±6 8±5 10±50.439 0.001

Interaction age*sex p=0.070

0.47812 15±5 15±7 19±7 14±5Δ 9-12 6±8 6±7 11±9 4±7

- No. due to active inattention

9 1.4±1.8 0.5±1.6 1.5±1.7 0.8±1.40.301 0.259

Interaction age*sex p=0.072

0.93412 0.9±1.2 0.9±1.4 0.6±1.2 0.9±1.,4Δ 9-12 -0.5±1.5 0.3±1.7 -0.9±2.1 0.0±2.0

- No. due to quite inattention

9 3.4±3.0 1.3±1.6 3.0±4.0 4.7±2.90.991 0.836

Interaction age*FO p=0.003

0.739 Interaction

sex*FO p=0.01912 3.8±2.9 3.4±2.1 2.0±1.5 2.8±2.0

Δ 9-12 0.4±3.7 2.1±2.3 -1.0±4.3 -1.9±3.0