Relationship between Serum Omega-3 Fatty Acid and Asthma Endpoints

Shahieda Adams, Andreas L. Lopata, Cornelius M. Smuts, Roslynn Baatjies and Mohamed F. Jeebhay
Additional contact information
Shahieda Adams: Occupational Medicine Division and Centre for Environmental and Occupational Health Research, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, Observatory, 7925 Cape Town, South Africa
Andreas L. Lopata: Molecular Allergy Research Laboratory, School of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Douglas, QLD 4814, Australia
Cornelius M. Smuts: Centre of Excellence for Nutrition, North-West University, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa
Roslynn Baatjies: Occupational Medicine Division and Centre for Environmental and Occupational Health Research, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, Observatory, 7925 Cape Town, South Africa
Mohamed F. Jeebhay: Occupational Medicine Division and Centre for Environmental and Occupational Health Research, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, Observatory, 7925 Cape Town, South Africa

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Recent studies have highlighted the potential protective role of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) in asthma. This study aimed at determining the association between seafood intake, serum PUFA composition and clinical endpoints of asthma in adults. A cross-sectional study of 642 subjects used the European Committee Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) questionnaire, skin prick tests, spirometry and methacholine challenge tests following ATS guidelines. Sera was analysed for n-3 and n-6 PUFA composition. Subjects had a mean age of 34 years, were largely female (65%) and 51% were current smokers. While 99% reported fish consumption, rock lobster, mussels, squid and abalone were also consumed less frequently. The prevalence of asthma symptoms was 11%, current asthma (ECRHS definition) was 8% and non-specific bronchial hyperresponsiveness (NSBH) was much higher (26%) In adjusted models the n-3 PUFAs 20:5 (EPA) and 22:5 (DPA) were significantly associated with a decreased risk of having NSBH. Total n-3 PUFA composition was associated with decreased NSBH risk (OR = 0.92), while high n-6 PUFA composition was associated with an increased risk (OR = 1.14).

Keywords: non-specific bronchial hyperresponsiveness; polyunsaturated fatty acids; omega-3 fatty acids; omega-6 fatty acids; asthma clinical endpoints (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/1/43/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/1/43/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2018:i:1:p:43-:d:193099

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().