Environment/Climate Change
Air pollution and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: do omega-3 fatty acids modify the association? Meghan Angley* Meghan Angley Yijia Zhang Uma Reddy Ka Kahe
Objective: Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy has been shown to be associated with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). Several recent studies have suggested that intake of omega-3 fatty acids may mitigate the association between air pollution and adverse health outcomes. We investigated if the association between air pollution and HDP is modified by intake of omega-3 fatty acids.
Methods: We used data from the Nulliparous Pregnancy Outcomes Study: Monitoring Mothers-To-Be (nuMoM2b), a multi-center prospective cohort study. Average mean daily levels of PM2.5, PM10 and O3 during pregnancy were assigned to participants by linking participant addresses to air pollution monitoring data. HDP included gestational hypertension and preeclampsia, determined from chart abstraction. Total intake of omega-3 fatty acids and separately fish oil (EPA, DPA, and DHA) were determined from the Block 2005 Food Frequency Questionnaire, which asked participants to recall their frequency and portion size of certain foods and supplements in the three months prior to pregnancy. From these responses, we dichotomized total intake of omega-3 fatty acids and fish oil at the median as <1.3 g/day vs. ≥1.3 g/day and <0.08 g/day vs. ≥ 0.08 g/day, respectively.
Results: We excluded participants with pre-pregnancy hypertension and those whose pregnancies ended prior to 20 weeks gestation. Of the 9,221 women included in the analysis, 23.2% developed HDP. After adjustment for confounders, PM2.5 (OR: 1.66 [95% CI: 1.41, 1.96], per 5 µg/m3 increase) and PM10 (OR: 1.34 [95% CI: 1.21, 1.49], per 10 µg/m3 increase), but not O3 (per 10 ppb increase) were associated with HDP. Neither total intake of omega-3 fatty acids nor intake of fish oil appreciably modified the association between air pollution and HDP.
Conclusions: There remains a need to identify if overall dietary patterns attenuate the adverse associations between air pollution and pregnancy outcomes.
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