Abstract
Longitudinal evidence on the relation between dietary intake of n-3 (omega-3) very long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), in mid-childhood and asthma risk is scarce. We aimed to investigate whether a higher intake of EPA and DHA from fish in childhood is associated with a lower risk of incident asthma.
In the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, dietary intakes of EPA and DHA from fish were estimated by food frequency questionnaire at 7 years of age. We used logistic regression, controlling for confounders, to analyse associations between intake of EPA and DHA (quartiles) and incidence of doctor-diagnosed asthma at age 11 or 14 years, and explored potential effect modification by a fatty acid desaturase (FADS) polymorphism (rs1535). Replication was sought in the Swedish BAMSE birth cohort.
There was no evidence of association between intake of EPA plus DHA from fish and incident asthma overall (n=4543). However, when stratified by FADS genotype, the odds ratio (95% confidence interval) comparing top versus bottom quartile amongst the 2025 minor G allele carriers was 0.49 (0.31–0.79) (p-trend 0.006), but no inverse association was observed in the homozygous major A allele group (odds ratio 1.43, 95% confidence interval 0.83–2.46, p-trend 0.19) (p-interaction 0.006). This gene-nutrient interaction on incident asthma was replicated in BAMSE.
In children with a common FADS variant, higher intake of EPA and DHA from fish in childhood was strongly associated with a lower risk of incident asthma up to mid-adolescence.
Footnotes
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Conflict of interest: Dr. Talaei has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Sdona has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Calder has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Emmett reports grants from Nestle Nutrition, outside the submitted work.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Granell has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Bergström has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Melén has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Shaheen has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Jones reports grants from Nestle Nutrition, outside the submitted work.
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- Received September 25, 2020.
- Accepted January 14, 2021.
- ©The authors 2021. For reproduction rights and permissions contact permissions{at}ersnet.org