Socio-demographic and lifestyle determinants of the micronutrients status during pregnancy

Key messages

In the case of a high proportion of the women the intake of majority of the analyzed micronutrients was below recommendations for the pregnancy period. More effort should be taken to educational programs and interventions that focus on healthy diet recommendations during pregnancy.

Oxidative stress reduction related to the efficacy of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in first episode schizophrenia: Secondary outcome analysis of the OFFER randomized trial

Intervention studies of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) as add-on therapy in patients with schizophrenia have not examined changes in oxidative stress. A randomized placebo-controlled trial of a 26-week intervention composed of 2.2g/day of n-3 PUFA was found to reduce symptom severity in first-episode schizophrenia patients. The present study is an extension of our previous report, whose secondary aim was to assess the association between the clinical effect of n-3 PUFA and changes in oxidative stress indices. Seventy-one patients aged 16-35 were enrolled in the study and randomly assigned to the study arms. Total plasma antioxidant capacity and 8-epi-isoprostane F_2α content were assessed at baseline and at weeks 8 and 26 of the study as secondary outcome measures. Significant changes in oxidative stress indices favouring the intervention group were observed: decreases in 8-isoprostane F_2α (p<0.001) and increases in total plasma antioxidant capacity (p<0.001). Significant correlations between changes in clinical scores relevant to symptom severity and changes in oxidative indices were observed. The results of the present study hence suggest that the efficacy of a six-month intervention with n-3 PUFA observed in first-episode schizophrenia may be related to improvement in oxidative stress indices.

The association between polyunsaturated fatty acid consumption and the transition to psychosis in ultra-high risk individuals

PUFA deficiencies in cellular membranes have been observed in ultra-high risk (HR) individuals and in early schizophrenia. It is uncertain whether dietary PUFA consumption can be associated with the risk of transition to psychosis in HR individuals. The aim of the study was to assess PUFA consumption and confirm whether dietary habits are related to the risk of transition to full-threshold psychosis in HR individuals during a 12-month follow-up. PUFA consumption during the previous year was analyzed in 62 h individuals and 33 healthy controls (HC) at the beginning of the follow-up period using a validated Food-Frequency Questionnaire and the Polish Food Composition Tables. Fifteen HR individuals converted into psychosis (C-HR) during the 12-month follow-up. C-HR individuals reported significantly higher consumption of n-6 fatty acids (linoleic acid, LA and arachidonic acid, AA) in comparison with individuals who did not develop psychosis (NC-HR). The C-HR group reported a significantly higher AA/(EPA+DHA) consumption ratio than the NC-HR group. HC reported significantly higher consumption of most n-3 PUFA and lower consumption of all n-6 PUFA than both groups of HR individuals. The results suggest that dietary patterns of PUFA consumption may play a role in the conversion to psychosis of HR individuals.