Table 5. Fatty acid composition of serum PL according to quintiles defined by fatty acid intake estimated by FFQ at early and late pregnancy.
| Fatty acids intake (% of TFA) | Level in quintiles on the basis of fatty acid intake estimated by FFQ (mean (SD) | Q1 vs Q5a | P for trend | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Q5 | ||||||||
| Early pregnancy | (n = 37) | (n = 37) | (n = 38) | (n = 37) | (n = 37) | |||||||
| n-3 PUFA | 5.94 | (1.22) | 6.07 | (0.95) | 6.45 | (1.37) | 6.36 | (1.30) | 7.19 | (1.73) | 0.001 | <0.0001 |
| α-linolenic acid | 0.68 | (0.21) | 0.73 | (0.19) | 0.77 | (0.29) | 0.78 | (0.24) | 0.84 | (0.28) | 0.055 | 0.005 |
| EPA | 0.71 | (0.45) | 0.86 | (0.47) | 0.88 | (0.50) | 1.10 | (0.75) | 1.45 | (0.72) | <0.0001 | <0.0001 |
| DHA | 4.14 | (0.81) | 4.26 | (0.74) | 4.76 | (0.80) | 4.47 | (0.78) | 5.26 | (1.00) | <0.0001 | <0.0001 |
| n-6 PUFA | 37.09 | (2.66) | 37.67 | (3.11) | 38.53 | (2.99) | 37.99 | (2.53) | 39.06 | (2.83) | 0.026 | 0.004 |
| Linoleic acid | 27.25 | (3.03) | 28.29 | (2.87) | 28.99 | (3.33) | 28.35 | (2.57) | 29.49 | (3.00) | 0.012 | 0.004 |
| Arachidonic acid | 6.55 | (1.23) | 6.93 | (1.33) | 6.78 | (1.14) | 7.02 | (1.26) | 7.19 | (1.32) | 0.195 | 0.039 |
| Late pregnancy | (n = 30) | (n = 31) | (n = 31) | (n = 31) | (n = 30) | |||||||
| n-3 PUFA | 5.68 | (1.40) | 5.78 | (1.73) | 6.33 | (1.13) | 6.17 | (1.51) | 7.02 | (1.59) | 0.006 | <0.001 |
| α-linolenic acid | 0.86 | (0.17) | 0.89 | (0.25) | 0.84 | (0.14) | 0.89 | (0.24) | 0.95 | (0.23) | 0.538 | 0.192 |
| EPA | 0.69 | (0.41) | 0.73 | (0.37) | 0.86 | (0.48) | 1.14 | (0.78) | 1.22 | (0.92) | 0.012 | <0.0001 |
| DHA | 3.92 | (0.88) | 3.90 | (0.81) | 4.40 | (1.02) | 4.73 | (1.18) | 4.63 | (1.01) | 0.044 | <0.001 |
| n-6 PUFA | 37.05 | (2.90) | 34.68 | (4.23) | 36.46 | (2.99) | 36.25 | (2.91) | 35.93 | (2.71) | 0.655 | 0.718 |
| Linoleic acid | 28.72 | (3.10) | 26.88 | (3.59) | 28.65 | (2.74) | 28.23 | (2.98) | 27.75 | (2.94) | 0.741 | 0.737 |
| Arachidonic acid | 5.11 | (0.81) | 5.60 | (1.06) | 5.39 | (1.02) | 5.77 | (0.95) | 5.43 | (1.09) | 0.709 | 0.150 |
FFQ, food frequency questionnaire; n-3 PUFA, n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids; n-6 PUFA, n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids; PL, phospholipids; TFA, total fatty acids.
a
Tukey-Kramer analysis.