Funded in part by Nu-Mega Ingredients
Neonatal Docosahexaenoic Acid in Preterm Infants and Intelligence at 5 Years
Gould JF, Makrides M, Gibson RA, Sullivan TR, McPhee AJ, Anderson PJ, Best KP, Sharp M, Cheong JLY, Opie GF, Travadi J, Bednarz JM, Davis PG, Simmer K, Doyle LW, Collins CT
The New England journal of medicine · 54 citations
Review labels
Neutral facts our review recorded about how this study was done. They describe method, never whether we like the result.
How it was studied
- Design
- Randomized controlled trial (classified by our AI screen)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Industry funded
- Government
- National Health and Medical Research Council
- Company
- Nu-Mega Ingredients
- Grants
- National Health and Medical Research Council (1146806); National Health and Medical Research Council (1022112)
Based on 2 listed funder(s).
Publication
- Published
- 2022-10-26 · N Engl J Med · vol. 387 · issue 17 · pp. 1579–1588
- Publisher
- Massachusetts Medical Society
- Cited
- 63 citations · more than 98% of similar papers · 5.9× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 38 works
- Access
- Free to read
- Research areas
- Fatty Acid Research and Health · Infant Nutrition and Health · Infant Development and Preterm Care
- Keywords
- Docosahexaenoic acid, Gestation, Pregnancy, First trimester, Obstetrics, Physiology, Medicine, Brain development, Pediatrics, Biology, Biochemistry, Polyunsaturated fatty acid, Fatty acid, Neuroscience
- MeSH
- humans, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, docosahexaenoic acids, emulsions, enteral nutrition, follow-up studies, intelligence, cognition, wechsler scales, dietary supplements, child, child, preschool, infant, infant, newborn, infant, premature, australia
16 authors
From AU, US
- Jacqueline F. GouldSouth Australian Health and Medical Research Institute; The University of Adelaide
- Maria MakridesSouth Australian Health and Medical Research Institute; The University of Adelaide
- Robert Alan GibsonSouth Australian Health and Medical Research Institute; The University of Adelaide
- Thomas SullivanSouth Australian Health and Medical Research Institute; The University of Adelaide
- Andrew J McPheeWomen's and Children's Hospital; South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute; The University of Adelaide
- Peter J. AndersonThe University of Melbourne; South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute; Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Monash University
Abstract
Background
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is a component of neural tissue. Because its accretion into the brain is greatest during the final trimester of pregnancy, infants born before 29 weeks' gestation do not receive the normal supply of DHA. The effect of this deficiency on subsequent cognitive development is not well understood.
Methods
We assessed general intelligence at 5 years in children who had been enrolled in a trial of neonatal DHA supplementation to prevent bronchopulmonary dysplasia. In the previous trial, infants born before 29 weeks' gestation had been randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive an enteral emulsion that provided 60 mg of DHA per kilogram of body weight per day or a control emulsion from the first 3 days of enteral feeds until 36 weeks of postmenstrual age or discharge home, whichever occurred first. Children from 5 of the 13 centers in the original trial were invited to undergo assessment with the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) at 5 years of corrected age. The primary outcome was the full-scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ) score. Secondary outcomes included the components of WPPSI.
Results
A total of 1273 infants underwent randomization in the original trial; of the 656 surviving children who had undergone randomization at the centers included in this follow-up study, 480 (73%) had an FSIQ score available - 241 in the DHA group and 239 in the control group. After imputation of missing data, the mean (±SD) FSIQ scores were 95.4±17.3 in the DHA group and 91.9±19.1 in the control group (adjusted difference, 3.45; 95% confidence interval, 0.38 to 6.53; P = 0.03). The results for secondary outcomes generally did not support that obtained for the primary outcome. Adverse events were similar in the two groups.
Conclusions
In infants born before 29 weeks' gestation who had been enrolled in a trial to assess the effect of DHA supplementation on bronchopulmonary dysplasia, the use of an enteral DHA emulsion until 36 weeks of postmenstrual age was associated with modestly higher FSIQ scores at 5 years of age than control feeding. (Funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and Nu-Mega Ingredients; N3RO Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry number, ACTRN12612000503820.).
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
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