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Maternal Fish Oil Intake and Insulin Resistance in the Offspring

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Diet, Nutrition, and Fetal Programming

Part of the book series: Nutrition and Health ((NH))

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Abstract

The intake of fish oils during pregnancy increases the duration of pregnancy, reduces the incidence of premature delivery, and has other benefits for the neonates, but some harmful effects have been also reported including low levels of arachidonic acid, which is essential for intrauterine growth. The intake of fish oil has been claimed to reduce the risk factors of the metabolic syndrome, including insulin resistance and diabetes, although contradictory results have also been described. Data on the long-term effects of fish oil, consumed during the perinatal stages, on the glucose-insulin axis are scarce and variable in both humans and experimental animals. In 1-year-old male pups of rats with moderate intakes of fish oil during just the first half of pregnancy, insulin sensitivity was higher than in those from dams given identical treatment except that fish oil was replaced by one of four different oils. Different epigenetic DNA marks may explain the influence of dietary factors in early developmental stages on the risk of metabolic diseases in adulthood. There is also increasing evidence that those mechanisms may involve the modulation of noncoding small RNAs, and the increased insulin sensitivity in those adult pups of rats fed fish oil during early pregnancy has been related to changes in the expression of several microRNAs. In conclusion, the long-term effects of fish oil supplementation during the perinatal stage on insulin sensitivity are variable depending on the dose and time-window, and its epigenetic explanation seems to include decreases in the expression of microRNAs.

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Abbreviations

AA:

Arachidonic acid

ALA:

α-Linolenic acid

AUC:

Area under the curve

DHA:

Docosahexaenoic acid

EFA:

Essential fatty acids

EPA:

Eicosapentaenoic acid

FO:

Fish oil

HOMA:

Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance

LA:

Linoleic acid

LCPUFA:

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids

LO:

Linseed oil

miRNA:

microRNA

miRNAome:

Whole-genome microRNA

ncRNA:

Noncoding RNA

NF-Y:

Nuclear factor Y

OO:

Olive oil

PA:

Palm oil

PPAR-α and PPAR-γ:

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α and γ

SO:

Soy oil

Sp1:

Specificity protein 1

siRNA:

Small interfering RNA

snoRNA:

Small nucleolar RNA

SREBP-1:

Sterol regulatory element binding protein-1

stRNA:

Sperm transfer RNA

tiRNA:

Transcription initiation RNA

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank pp.-science-editing.com for editing and linguistic revision of the manuscript. Preparation of this chapter was carried out in part with grants from the Universidad San Pablo–CEU and the Fundación Ramón Areces (CIVP16A1835) of Spain to EH.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Chemistry, University CEU San Pablo, Madrid, Spain

    Emilio Herrera PhD

  2. Laboratory of Disorders of Lipid Metabolism and Molecular Nutrition, IMDEA Food Institute, Madrid, Spain

    Patricia Casas-Agustench PhD & Alberto Dávalos PhD

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  1. Emilio Herrera PhD
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  2. Patricia Casas-Agustench PhD
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Correspondence to Emilio Herrera PhD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, King's College, London, United Kingdom

    Rajkumar Rajendram

  2. Department of Nutrition, King's College, London, United Kingdom

    Victor R. Preedy

  3. Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom

    Vinood B. Patel

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Herrera, E., Casas-Agustench, P., Dávalos, A. (2017). Maternal Fish Oil Intake and Insulin Resistance in the Offspring. In: Rajendram, R., Preedy, V., Patel, V. (eds) Diet, Nutrition, and Fetal Programming. Nutrition and Health. Humana Press, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60289-9_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60289-9_20

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