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The effect of maternal smoking and ethanol on fatty acid transport by the human placenta
- Source :
- British Journal of Nutrition. 87:247-252
- Publication Year :
- 2002
- Publisher :
- Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2002.
-
Abstract
- The role of the placenta in controlling the supply of fatty acids to the fetus was investigated in term placentas from non-smokers (n5), smokers (>ten cigarettes/d;n5) and after addition of ethanol at 2 mg/ml (n4). The maternal side was of the placenta was perfusedex vivofor 90 min with a physiological mixture of fatty acids and fatty acid:human albumin ratio. There was no effect of smoking on the transfer of linoleic (LA, 18 : 2n-6), α-linolenic (αLN, 18 : 3n-3), arachidonic (AA, 20 : 4n-6) or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22 : 6n-3), expressed per perfused area (calculated from H218O exchange). However, the presence of ethanol in the perfusate at a concentration of 2 mg/ml significantly reduced (Pn-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, αLN and DHA. This specific effect of ethanol on αLN and DHA also resulted in an altered selectivity for transfer of individual fatty acids. In the non-smoking control group the placenta selectively transferred polyunsaturated fatty acids to the fetus in the order DHA>AA>αLN>LA. The order of selectivity was unaltered in placentas from smokers, but the addition of ethanol to the perfusion medium altered the order of selectivity to AA>αLN>LA>DHA. The presence of ethanol in the perfusate was also associated with a significant reduction (P218O. These results suggest that the presence of ethanol at a concentration of 2 mg/ml may reduce the availability of polyunsaturated fatty acids to the developing fetus.
- Subjects :
- medicine.medical_specialty
Docosahexaenoic Acids
Placenta
Medicine (miscellaneous)
Alcohol
Biology
chemistry.chemical_compound
Pregnancy
Internal medicine
medicine
Humans
Maternal-Fetal Exchange
chemistry.chemical_classification
Arachidonic Acid
Nutrition and Dietetics
Ethanol
alpha-Linolenic acid
Smoking
alpha-Linolenic Acid
Fatty acid
Metabolism
Endocrinology
medicine.anatomical_structure
Biochemistry
chemistry
Docosahexaenoic acid
Fatty Acids, Unsaturated
Female
Arachidonic acid
Polyunsaturated fatty acid
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14752662 and 00071145
- Volume :
- 87
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- British Journal of Nutrition
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....d34b2759b0ecac76cab5cb483eb70687