Biomarkers and Fatty Fish Intake: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Norwegian Preschool Children.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Biomarkers such as omega-3 (n-3) PUFAs, urinary iodine concentration (UIC), 1-methylhistidine (1-MH), and trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) have been associated with fish intake in observational studies, but data from children in randomized controlled trials are limited.

OBJECTIVES:

The objective of this exploratory analysis was to investigate the effects of fatty fish intake compared with meat intake on various biomarkers in preschool children.

METHODS:

We randomly allocated (1:1) 232 children, aged 4 to 6 y, from 13 kindergartens. The children received lunch meals of either fatty fish (herring/mackerel) or meat (chicken/lamb/beef) 3 times a week for 16 wk. We analyzed 86 biomarkers in plasma (n = 207), serum (n = 195), RBCs (n = 211), urine (n = 200), and hair samples (n = 210). We measured the effects of the intervention on the normalized biomarker concentrations in linear mixed-effect regression models taking the clustering within the kindergartens into account. The results are presented as standardized effect sizes.

RESULTS:

We found significant effects of the intervention on the following biomarkers: RBC EPA (20:5n-3), 0.61 (95% CI: 0.36, 0.86); DHA (22:6n-3), 0.43 (95% CI: 0.21, 0.66); total n-3 PUFAs, 0.41 (95% CI: 0.20, 0.64); n-3/n-6 ratio, 0.48 (95% CI: 0.24, 0.71); adrenic acid (22:4n-6, -0.65 (95% CI: -0.91, -0.40), arachidonic acid (20:4n-6), -0.54 (95% CI: -0.79, -0.28); total n-6 PUFAs, -0.31 (95% CI: -0.56, -0.06); UIC, 0.32 (95% CI: 0.052, 0.59); hair mercury, 0.83 (95% CI: 0.05, 1.05); and plasma 1-MH, -0.35 (95% CI: -0.61, -0.094).

CONCLUSIONS:

Of the 86 biomarkers, the strongest effect of fatty fish intake was on n-3 PUFAs, UIC, hair mercury, and plasma 1-MH. We observed no or limited effects on biomarkers related to micronutrient status, inflammation, or essential amino acid, choline oxidation, and tryptophan pathways.The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02331667).

• Authors: Beate S Solvik, Jannike Øyen, Ingrid Kvestad, Maria W Markhus, Per M Ueland, Adrian McCann, Tor A Strand
• Journal: The Journal of nutrition (J Nutr) Vol. 151 Issue 8 Pg. 2134-2141 (08 07 2021) ISSN: 1541-6100 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 33978160 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society for Nutrition.

Chemical References

• Biomarkers
• Fatty Acids, Omega-3
• Docosahexaenoic Acids

Topics

• Animals
• Biomarkers
• Cattle
• Child, Preschool
• Docosahexaenoic Acids
• Fatty Acids, Omega-3
• Fishes
• Humans
• Meat
• Seafood
• Sheep