Nutrients 2012, 4(11), 1747-1758; doi:10.3390/nu4111747
Article

Associations between Maternal Antioxidant Intakes in Pregnancy and Infant Allergic Outcomes

Christina E. West 1,2 email, Janet Dunstan 1 email, Suzi McCarthy 1 email, Jessica Metcalfe 1 email, Nina D'Vaz 1 email, Suzanne Meldrum 1 email, Wendy H. Oddy 3 email, Meri K. Tulic 1,4 email and Susan L. Prescott 1,* email
1 School of Paediatrics and Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, PO Box D184, Princess Margaret Hospital, Perth WA 6001, Australia 2 Department of Clinical Sciences, Pediatrics, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden 3 Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Perth, PO Box 855, Perth, WA 6872, Australia 4 EA 6302 Tolerance Immunitaire, Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, 06202 Nice, France
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 17 September 2012; in revised form: 7 November 2012 / Accepted: 8 November 2012 / Published: 14 November 2012
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Infant Nutrition)
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Abstract: Antioxidant intakes in pregnancy may influence fetal immune programming and the risk of allergic disease. We investigated associations between maternal intakes of β-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, copper and zinc, and infant allergic outcomes. Antioxidant intakes of pregnant women (n = 420) assessed prospectively by a food frequency questionnaire, were examined in relation to allergic outcomes at 1 year of age (n = 300). The main relationships with allergic outcomes were seen with dietary vitamin C and copper. Specifically, higher maternal dietary vitamin C intake was associated with a reduced risk of any diagnosed infant allergic disease and wheeze. After adjustment for potential confounders the relationship with wheeze remained statistically significant. There was also an inverse linear relationship between vitamin C and food allergy. Higher dietary copper intake was associated with reduced risk of eczema, wheeze and any allergic disease. The relationship with wheeze and any allergic disease remained statistically significant in multivariate analysis, and there was also an inverse linear relationship between copper and food allergy. However, these relationships were only seen for nutrients present in food. There were no relationships between β-carotene, vitamin E or zinc and any allergic outcomes. In summary, this study suggests that maternal diet of fresh foods rich in vitamin C is associated with reduced risk of infant wheeze, and that copper intake is associated with reduced risk of several allergic outcomes.
Keywords: allergy; allergic disease; antioxidant; childhood; copper; diet; dietary intake; eczema; pregnancy; vitamin C

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MDPI and ACS Style

West, C.E.; Dunstan, J.; McCarthy, S.; Metcalfe, J.; D'Vaz, N.; Meldrum, S.; Oddy, W.H.; Tulic, M.K.; Prescott, S.L. Associations between Maternal Antioxidant Intakes in Pregnancy and Infant Allergic Outcomes. Nutrients 2012, 4, 1747-1758.

AMA Style

West CE, Dunstan J, McCarthy S, Metcalfe J, D'Vaz N, Meldrum S, Oddy WH, Tulic MK, Prescott SL. Associations between Maternal Antioxidant Intakes in Pregnancy and Infant Allergic Outcomes. Nutrients. 2012; 4(11):1747-1758.

Chicago/Turabian Style

West, Christina E.; Dunstan, Janet; McCarthy, Suzi; Metcalfe, Jessica; D'Vaz, Nina; Meldrum, Suzanne; Oddy, Wendy H.; Tulic, Meri K.; Prescott, Susan L. 2012. "Associations between Maternal Antioxidant Intakes in Pregnancy and Infant Allergic Outcomes." Nutrients 4, no. 11: 1747-1758.

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