Table 3. Fatty acid status of red blood cells in relative and absolute (μg/g) amounts measured in gestational week 28 (T1), 3- (T2), 6- (T3) and 12 months (T4) postpartum, for linoleic acid (18:2n-6 LA) arachidonic acid (20:4n-6 AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3 DHA), comparing those participants that provided a sample at all four time points (A, n = 35) and those that did not (B).

	Fatty acids		n	Mean ± 95% CI	p (2-tailed) 1		Fatty acids		n	Mean ± 95% CI	p (2-tailed) 1
T1 (n = 69)	18:2n-6 LA %	A	35	13±8	0.96	T2 (n = 90)	18:2n-6 LA %	A	35	12±7	0.51
		B	34	13±11				B	55	13±5
	18:2n-6 LA μg / g	A	35	396±42	0.69		18:2n-6 LA μg / g	A	35	301±18	0.74
		B	34	383±52				B	55	305±15
	20:4n-6 AA %	A	35	11±6	0.68		20:4n-6 AA %	A	35	14±6	0.09
		B	34	11±5				B	55	13±5
	20:4n-6 AA μg / g	A	35	323±17	0.61		20:4n-6 AA μg / g	A	35	336±18	0.07
		B	34	317±18				B	55	316±13
	22:6n-3 DHA %	A	35	6±4	0.95		22:6n-3 DHA %	A	35	5±4	0.99
		B	34	6±5				B	55	5±4
	22:6n-3 DHA μg / g	A	35	168±13	0.42		22:6n-3 DHA μg / g	A	35	133±10	0.86
		B	34	161±13				B	55	132±9
T3 (n = 88)	18:2n-6 LA %	A	35	12±6	0.99	T4 (n = 78)	18:2n-6 LA %	A	35	11±5	0.82
		B	52	12±6				B	43	11±4
	18:2n-6 LA μg / g	A	35	273±20	0.39		18:2n-6 LA μg / g	A	35	256±16	0.78
		B	52	264±11				B	43	259±13
	20:4n-6 AA %	A	35	13±6	0.80		20:4n-6 AA %	A	35	13±4	0.25
		B	52	13±5				B	43	13±5
	20:4n-6 AA μg / g	A	35	290±12	0.29		20:4n-6 AA μg / g	A	35	298±14	0.44
		B	52	283±8				B	43	290±15
	22:6n-3 DHA %	A	35	6±6	0.45		22:6n-3 DHA %	A	35	7±3	0.65
		B	52	6±5				B	43	7±3
	22:6n-3 DHA μg / g	A	35	140±16	0.62		22:6n-3 DHA μg / g	A	35	168±8	0.85
		B	52	135±14				B	43	167±9

¹ Independent sample t-test, significant level 0.05.