Search

Background: Longitudinal epidemiological data are scarce on the relationship between dietary intake of vitamin A and respiratory outcomes in childhood. We investigated whether a higher intake of preformed vitamin A or pro-vitamin β-carotene in mid-childhood is associated with higher lung function and with asthma risk in adolescence., Methods: In the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, dietary intakes of preformed vitamin A and β-carotene equivalents were estimated by food frequency questionnaire at 7 years of age. Post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV 1 ), forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory flow at 25-75% of FVC (FEF 25-75% ) were measured at 15.5 years and transformed to z-scores. Incident asthma was defined by new cases of doctor-diagnosed asthma at age 11 or 14 years., Results: In multivariable adjusted models, a higher intake of preformed vitamin A was associated with higher lung function and a lower risk of incident asthma: comparing top versus bottom quartiles of intake, regression coefficients for FEV 1 and FEF 25-75% were 0.21 (95% CI 0.05-0.38; p trend =0.008) and 0.18 (95% CI 0.03-0.32; p trend =0.02), respectively; odds ratios for FEV 1 /FVC below the lower limit of normal and incident asthma were 0.49 (95% CI 0.27-0.90; p trend =0.04) and 0.68 (95% CI 0.47-0.99; p trend =0.07), respectively. In contrast, there was no evidence for association with β-carotene. We also found some evidence for modification of the associations between preformed vitamin A intake and lung function by BCMO1 , NCOR2 and SCGB1A1 gene polymorphisms., Conclusion: A higher intake of preformed vitamin A, but not β-carotene, in mid-childhood is associated with higher subsequent lung function and lower risk of fixed airflow limitation and incident asthma., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: M. Talaei has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: D.A. Hughes has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: O. Mahmoud has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: P.M. Emmett reports grants from Nestle Nutrition, personal fees for consultancy from the European Food Safety Authority, outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: R. Granell has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: S. Guerra has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: S.O. Shaheen has nothing to disclose., (Copyright ©The authors 2021.)

Longitudinal evidence on the relation between dietary intake of n -3 (ω-3) very-long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, i.e. eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), in mid-childhood and asthma risk is scarce. We aimed to investigate whether a higher intake of EPA and DHA from fish in childhood is associated with a lower risk of incident asthma.In the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, dietary intakes of EPA and DHA from fish were estimated by food frequency questionnaire at 7 years of age. We used logistic regression, controlling for confounders, to analyse associations between intake of EPA and DHA (quartiles) and incidence of doctor-diagnosed asthma at age 11 or 14 years, and explored potential effect modification by a fatty acid desaturase ( FADS ) polymorphism (rs1535). Replication was sought in the Swedish BAMSE birth cohort.There was no evidence of association between intake of EPA plus DHA from fish and incident asthma overall (n=4543). However, when stratified by FADS genotype, the odds ratio comparing the top versus bottom quartile among the 2025 minor G allele carriers was 0.49 (95% CI 0.31-0.79; p trend =0.006), but no inverse association was observed in the homozygous major A allele group (OR 1.43, 95% CI 0.83-2.46; p trend =0.19) (p interaction =0.006). This gene-nutrient interaction on incident asthma was replicated in BAMSE.In children with a common FADS variant, higher intake of EPA and DHA from fish in childhood was strongly associated with a lower risk of incident asthma up to mid-adolescence., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: M. Talaei has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: E. Sdona has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: P.C. Calder has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: L.R. Jones reports grants from Nestle Nutrition, outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: P.M. Emmett reports grants from Nestle Nutrition, outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: R. Granell has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: A. Bergström has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: E. Melén has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: S.O. Shaheen has nothing to disclose., (Copyright ©The authors 2021.)