Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Nov;142(11):1943-9.
doi: 10.3945/jn.112.163493. Epub 2012 Sep 26.

Maternal PUFA status but not prenatal methylmercury exposure is associated with children's language functions at age five years in the Seychelles

J J Strain  1 , Philip W Davidson, Sally W Thurston, Donald Harrington, Maria S Mulhern, Alison J McAfee, Edwin van Wijngaarden, Conrad F Shamlaye, Juliette Henderson, Gene E Watson, Grazyna Zareba, Deborah A Cory-Slechta, Miranda Lynch, Julie M W Wallace, Emeir M McSorley, Maxine P Bonham, Abbie Stokes-Riner, Jean Sloane-Reeves, Joanne Janciuras, Rosa Wong, Thomas W Clarkson, Gary J Myers
Affiliations

Maternal PUFA status but not prenatal methylmercury exposure is associated with children's language functions at age five years in the Seychelles

J J Strain et al. J Nutr. 2012 Nov.

Abstract

Evidence from the Seychelles Child Development Nutrition Study suggests that maternal nutritional status can modulate the relationship between prenatal methylmercury (MeHg) exposure and developmental outcomes in children. The aim of this study was to investigate whether maternal PUFA status was a confounding factor in any possible associations between prenatal MeHg exposure and developmental outcomes at 5 y of age in the Republic of Seychelles. Maternal status of (n-3) and (n-6) PUFA were measured in serum collected at 28 wk gestation and delivery. Prenatal MeHg exposure was determined in maternal hair collected at delivery. At 5 y of age, the children completed a comprehensive range of sensitive developmental assessments. Complete data from 225 mothers and their children were available for analysis. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed Preschool Language Scale scores of the children improved with increasing maternal serum DHA [22:6(n-3)] concentrations and decreased with increasing arachidonic acid [20:4(n-6)] concentrations, albeit verbal intelligence improved with increasing (n-6) PUFA concentrations in maternal serum. There were no adverse associations between MeHg exposure and developmental outcomes. These findings suggest that higher fish consumption, resulting in higher maternal (n-3) PUFA status, during pregnancy is associated with beneficial developmental effects rather than detrimental effects resulting from the higher concomitant exposures of the fetus to MeHg. The association of maternal (n-3) PUFA status with improved child language development may partially explain the authors' previous finding of improving language scores, as prenatal MeHg exposure increased in an earlier mother-child cohort in the Seychelles where maternal PUFA status was not measured.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Author disclosures: J. J. Strain, P. W. Davidson, S. W. Thurston, D. Harrington, M. S. Mulhern, A. J. McAfee, E. van Wijngaarden, C. F. Shamlaye, J. Henderson, G. E. Watson, G. Zareba, D. A. Cory-Slechta, M. Lynch, J. M. W. Wallace, E. M. McSorley, M. P. Bonham, A. Stokes-Riner, J. Sloane-Reeves, J. Janciuras, R. Wong, T. W. Clarkson, and G. J. Myers, no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Associations between the 5-y PLS-TL score and maternal serum DHA (A; P = 0.03), AA (B; P = 0.02), and prenatal hair MeHg (C; P = 0.20). Circles represent individual data points and the solid line is the fully adjusted regression line using all available observations (n = 225). Dotted lines are the confidence limits for the adjusted regression. AA, arachidonic acid; MeHg, methylmercury; PLS-TL, Preschool Language Scale-total language.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Clarkson TW, Strain JJ. Nutritional factors may modify the toxic action of methyl mercury in fish-eating populations. J Nutr. 2003;133:S1539–43 - PubMed
    1. Strain JJ, Davidson PW, Bonham MP, Duffy EM, Stokes-Riner A, Thurston SW, Wallace JM, Robson PJ, Shamlaye CF, Georger LA, et al. Associations of maternal long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, methyl mercury, and infant development in the Seychelles Child Development Nutrition Study. Neurotoxicology. 2008;29:776–82 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bonham MP, Duffy EM, Wallace JM, Robson PJ, Myers GJ, Davidson PW, Clarkson TW, Shamlaye CF, Strain JJ. Habitual fish consumption does not prevent a decrease in LCPUFA status in pregnant women (The Seychelles Child Development Nutrition Study). Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2008;78:343–50 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hibbeln JR, Davis JM, Steer C, Emmett P, Rogers I, Williams C, Golding J. Maternal seafood consumption in pregnancy and neurodevelopmental outcomes in childhood (ALSPAC Study): an observational cohort study. Lancet. 2007;369:578–85 - PubMed
    1. Oken E, Radesky JS, Wright RO, Bellinger DC, Amarasiriwardena CJ, Kleinman KP, Hu H, Gillman MW. Maternal fish intake during pregnancy, blood mercury levels, and child cognition at age 3 years in a US cohort. Am J Epidemiol. 2008;167:1171–81 - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Substances