DHA supplementation and pregnancy complications

Abstract

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation is recommended for women during pregnancy because of its neurological, visual, and cognitive effects. Previous studies have suggested that DHA supplementation during pregnancy may prevent and treat certain pregnancy complications. However, there are contradictions in the current related studies, and the specific mechanism by which DHA acts remains unclear. This review summarizes the research on the relationship between DHA intake during pregnancy and preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, preterm birth, intrauterine growth restriction, and postpartum depression. Furthermore, we explore the impact of DHA intake during pregnancy on the prediction, prevention, and treatment of pregnancy complications as well as its impact on offspring neurodevelopment. Our results suggest that there is limited and controversial evidence for the protective effect of DHA intake on pregnancy complications, with the exception of preterm birth and gestational diabetes mellitus. However, additional DHA supplementation may improve long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes in the offspring of women with pregnancy complications.

Gestational diabetes mellitus: Impacts on fetal neurodevelopment, gut dysbiosis, and the promise of precision medicine

“…The lack of DHA due to GDM may further promote dysbiosis in the fetal microbiome, as DHA helps maintain the microbiome’s Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio and promotes the abundance of anti-inflammatory species ( Muley and Plessis, 2018 ). As a result, providing high doses of DHA may increase the amount of DHA in the cord blood of GDM patients ( Jiang et al, 2023a ). Furthermore, GDM, the associated dysbiosis of the maternal gut microbiota, and the resulting impacts on metabolite delivery to the fetus should be studied.…”

Knockdown of Placental Major Facilitator Superfamily Domain Containing 2a in Pregnant Mice Reduces Fetal Brain Growth and Phospholipid Docosahexaenoic Acid Content

“…Low maternal DHA status in human pregnancy is associated with learning, cognitive, motor and visual disorders in children (for a review, see [10]). Evidence that DHA supplementation in pregnancy improves cognitive function, learning or vision in the children of supplemented women has been inconsistent, with some studies showing improvement but not all [13][14][15]. A study of women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) found that the mothers had higher DHA dietary intake and RBC levels, while their infants were deficient in DHA and suffered from increased neurological sequelae [16].…”