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Session: Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond: The Impact of In Utero Exposures on Lifelong Health (Oral 5)

(OR05-03-24) Prenatal Fish Consumption Is Positively Associated With Midlife HDL Cholesterol in Females

Saturday, June 29, 2024
5:24 PM – 5:36 PM CT
Location:  W375D

    Presenting Author(s)

  • Amy R. Nichols, PhD, MS, RD (she/her/hers)

    Postdoctoral Research Fellow
    Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
    Boston, Massachusetts, United States

    Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

    • Co-Author(s)

  • SR

    Sheryl Rifas-Shiman, MPH

    Harvard University, United States

  • MH

    Marie-France Hivert, MD

    Harvard Medical School & Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute
    Boston, Massachusetts, United States

  • Jorge E. Chavarro, MD, PhD

    Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
    Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
    Boston, Massachusetts, United States

  • EO

    Emily Oken, MD, MPH

    Professor
    Harvard Medical School & Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute
    Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Objectives: Fish consumption may improve cardiovascular health, but associations of intake during pregnancy – a sensitive period for long-term health – remain understudied. In particular, how prenatal fish consumption relates to long-term maternal outcomes is not known. We hypothesized that higher fish intake during pregnancy would be associated with better maternal cardiometabolic biomarkers in midlife.

Methods: Project Viva enrolled pregnant individuals 1999-2002 who completed food frequency questionnaires in the 1st and 2nd trimesters. We categorized fish (any type) consumption as 0, < 1, 1 to < 2, and ≥2 servings/wk. In analyses, we included 486 participants who completed a midlife visit ≈18y later at mean (±SD) age 50.8y (5.0). Using multivariable linear regression, we examined associations of average (1st and 2nd trimesters) prenatal fish intake with midlife blood pressure, lipids (total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, non-HDL cholesterol, triglycerides), fasting glucose, and hemoglobin A1c. We adjusted models for enrollment education, household income, race and ethnicity, prepregnancy BMI, and age at midlife, and examined for effect modification by midlife menopause status.

Results: The majority (69%) identified as non-Hispanic White and consumed some fish during pregnancy (8% 0sv/wk; 30% < 1sv/wk; 35% 1-2sv/wk; 27% ≥2sv/wk). Mean (±SD) midlife blood pressure was 117.0/74.2mmHg (14.4/11.0), total cholesterol 209.2mg/dL (50.4), HDL cholesterol 68.3mg/dL (22.8), non-HDL cholesterol 140.9mg/dL (43.3), triglycerides 99.3mg/dL (58.7), fasting glucose 91.7mg/dL (17.8) and hemoglobin A1c 5.3% (0.6). In adjusted models compared to no fish consumption, higher prenatal fish consumption was associated with higher midlife HDL cholesterol ( < 1sv/wk β=9.8mg/dL, 95%CI 2.2, 17.4; 1-2sv/wk β=12.5, 95%CI 4.9, 20.1; ≥2sv/wk β=13.2, 95%CI 5.5, 20.9). We neither observed effect modification by menopause status (p=.50), nor associations with other midlife outcomes (e.g., total cholesterol: < 1sv/wk β=4.7mg/dL, 95%CI -13.0, 22.3; 1-2sv/wk β=3.0, 95%CI -14.5, 20.6; ≥2 sv/wk β=6.1, 95%CI -11.8, 24.1).

Conclusions: We detected a positive association of prenatal fish consumption with midlife HDL cholesterol, suggesting pregnancy may be an important period for long-term maternal lipidemia.

Funding Sources: NIDDK, NICHD