Molecular Biology Division, ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical Research, Hyderabad, India.
Department of Nutrition, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Reprod Sci. 2023 Feb;30(2):408-427. doi: 10.1007/s43032-022-00989-w. Epub 2022 Jun 8.
Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), especially omega-3 (n-3) and n-6 long-chain (LC) PUFAs, are indispensable for the fetus' brain supplied by the placenta. Despite being highly unsaturated, n-3 LCPUFA-docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) plays a protective role as an antioxidant in the brain. Deficiency of DHA during fetal development may cause irreversible damages in neurodevelopment programming. Dietary PUFAs can impact placental structure and functions by regulating early placentation processes, such as angiogenesis. They promote remodeling of uteroplacental architecture to facilitate increased blood flow and surface area for nutrient exchange. The placenta's fatty acid transfer depends on the uteroplacental vascular development, ensuring adequate maternal circulatory fatty acids transport to fulfill the fetus' rapid growth and development requirements. Maternal n-3 PUFA deficiency predominantly leads to placental epigenetic changes than other fetal developing organs. A global shift in DNA methylation possibly transmits epigenetic instability in developing fetuses due to n-3 PUFA deficiency. Thus, an optimal level of maternal omega-3 (n-3) PUFAs may protect the placenta's structural and functional integrity and allow fetal growth by controlling the aberrant placental epigenetic changes. This narrative review summarizes the recent advances and underpins the roles of maternal PUFAs on the structure and functions of the placenta and their relevance to fetal growth and brain development.
膳食多不饱和脂肪酸（PUFAs），尤其是ω-3（n-3）和 n-6 长链（LC）PUFAs，是胎盘为胎儿大脑提供的必需物质。尽管高度不饱和，n-3LC-PUFA-二十二碳六烯酸（DHA）在大脑中作为抗氧化剂发挥保护作用。胎儿发育过程中 DHA 缺乏可能导致神经发育编程的不可逆转损伤。膳食 PUFAs 通过调节早期胎盘形成过程，如血管生成，影响胎盘结构和功能。它们促进子宫胎盘结构的重塑，以促进增加的血流和营养交换的表面积。胎盘的脂肪酸转运取决于子宫胎盘血管的发育，以确保足够的母体循环脂肪酸转运来满足胎儿快速生长和发育的需求。母体 n-3PUFA 缺乏主要导致胎盘表观遗传变化，而不是其他胎儿发育器官。由于 n-3PUFA 缺乏，DNA 甲基化的全球变化可能会导致发育中的胎儿出现表观遗传不稳定。因此，母体ω-3（n-3）PUFAs 的最佳水平可能通过控制异常的胎盘表观遗传变化来保护胎盘的结构和功能完整性，并允许胎儿生长。本综述总结了最近的进展，并强调了母体 PUFAs 对胎盘结构和功能的作用及其与胎儿生长和大脑发育的相关性。
