The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 127 No. 10 October 1997, pp. 1989-1992
Copyright ©1997 by the American Society for Nutritional Sciences

The Fatty Acid Composition of Maternal Diet Affects Lung Prostaglandin E₂ Levels and Survival from Group B Streptococcal Sepsis in Neonatal Rat Pups

Jorge I. Rayon, Jane D. Carver, Lance E. Wyble, Doris Wiener, Sonja S. Dickey^*, Valerie J. Benford, Li T. Chen, and Daniel V. Lim^*

Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa FL 33606; ^* Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences, University of South Florida, Tampa FL 33620; and   Department of Anatomy, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa FL 33612

Dietary fatty acid effects upon the immune system may be mediated in part by effects upon the synthesis of proinflammatory mediators. The effects of maternal dietary fatty acid composition upon lung prostaglandin (PG) E₂ levels and survival from group B streptococcal (GBS) infection were investigated in neonatal rat pups. Beginning on d 2 of gestation and throughout lactation, pregnant dams were fed a purified diet whose fat source (22% of energy) was either corn oil or menhaden fish oil. On postnatal d 3, pups were randomly cross-fostered to dams of the same diet group to minimize litter effects; litters were then culled to 10 pups per dam. On postnatal d 7, pups were either injected with 1 × 10^7.5 GBS organisms or were killed for determination of lung tissue levels of PGE₂ and lung and erythrocyte fatty acid composition. Arachidonic acid and PGE₂ levels were significantly higher in the lungs of pups in the corn oil group compared with the fish oil group. Forty-nine percent of pups in the corn oil group survived the GBS challenge compared with 79% of pups in the fish oil group (P = 0.0005). These data suggest that the fatty acid composition of pre- and/or postnatal diet affects the neonatal response to immune challenge, which may be due in part to effects upon the synthesis of pro-inflammatory mediators.

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