human
***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: OBJECTIVES Docosahexaenoic acid ( DHA ; 22:6 n-3 ) and arachidonic acid ( AA ; 20:4 n-6 ) are important for development of the central nervous system in mammals . There is a growth spurt in the human brain during the last trimester of pregnancy and the first postnatal months , with a large increase in the cerebral content of AA and DHA .  The fetus and the newborn infant depend on maternal supply of DHA and AA . Our hypothesis was that maternal intake of DHA during pregnancy and lactation is marginal and that high intake of this fatty acid would benefit the child . We examined the effect of supplementing pregnant and lactating women with very-long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids ( PUFAs ; cod liver oil ) on mental development of the children , compared with maternal supplementation with long-chain n-6 PUFAs ( corn oil ) . METHODS The study was r and omized and double-blinded . Pregnant women were recruited in week 18 of pregnancy to take 10 mL of cod liver oil or corn oil until 3 months after delivery . The cod liver oil contained 1183 mg/10 mL DHA , 803 mg/10 mL eicosapentaenoic acid ( 20:5 n-3 ) , and a total of 2494 mg/10 mL summation operator n-3 PUFAs . The corn oil contained 4747 mg/10 mL linoleic acid ( 18:2 n-6 ) and 92 mg/10 mL alpha-linolenic acid ( 18:3 n-3 ) . The amount of fat-soluble vitamins was identical in the 2 oils ( 117 micro g/mL vitamin A , 1 micro g/mL vitamin D , and 1.4 mg/mL dl-alpha-tocopherol ) . A total of 590 pregnant women were recruited to the study , and 341 mothers took part in the study until giving birth . All infants of these women were scheduled for assessment of cognitive function at 6 and 9 months of age , and 262 complied with the request . As part of the protocol , 135 subjects from this population were invited for intelligence testing  with the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children ( K-ABC ) at 4 years of age . Of the 135 invited children , 90 came for assessment . Six children did not complete the examination . The K-ABC is a measure of intelligence and achievement design ed for children aged 2.5 years through 12.5 years . This multisubtest battery comprises 4 scales : Sequential Processing , Simultaneous Processing , Achievement ( not used in the present study ) , and Nonverbal Abilities . The Sequential Processing and Simultaneous Processing scales are hypothesized to reflect the child 's style of problem solving and information processing . Scores from these 2 scales are combined to form a Mental Processing Composite , which serves as the measure of intelligence in the K-ABC . RESULTS We received dietary information from 76 infants ( 41 in the cod liver oil group and 35 in the corn oil group ) , documenting that all of them were breastfed at 3 months of age . Children who were born to mothers who had taken cod liver oil ( n = 48 ) during pregnancy and lactation scored higher on the Mental Processing Composite of the K-ABC at 4 years of age as compared with children whose mothers had taken  corn oil  ( n = 36 ; 106.4 [ 7.4 ] vs 102.3 [ 11.3 ] ) . The Mental Processing Composite score correlated significantly with head circumference at birth ( r = 0.23 ) , but no relation was found with birth weight or gestational length . The children 's mental processing scores at 4 years of age correlated significantly with maternal intake of DHA and eicosapentaenoic acid during pregnancy . In a multiple regression model , maternal intake of DHA during pregnancy was the only variable of statistical significance for the children 's mental processing scores at 4 years of age . CONCLUSION Maternal intake of very-long-chain n-3 PUFAs during pregnancy and lactation may be favorable for later mental development of children Micronutrient status is of fundamental importance both upon conception and throughout pregnancy . There is an abundance of literature investigating nutrient intakes during individual trimesters of pregnancy but few studies have investigated baseline intakes of nutrients throughout gestation as a continuum . The current investigation set out to measure habitual micronutrient intakes at weeks 13 , 25 , 35 of pregnancy and 6 weeks postpartum using a prospect i ve background information question naire , 4 - 7-day weighed food diary and postnatal question naire . Seventy-two primiparous , Caucasian Londoners were recruited at the study start with 42 completing the first , second , third trimester and postpartum study stages respectively . Study findings indicated that sodium intakes were significantly higher than UK guidelines throughout and after pregnancy ( P < 0.001 ) . Intakes of folate , iron , vitamin D , potassium , iodine and selenium were lower than UK recommendations during and after pregnancy , but to varying levels of statistical significance ( P < 0.05 ) . Only 23 - 38 % of women met UK recommendations for  folate  ( 300 microg day(-1 ) ) through dietary sources . Similarly , only a small percentage of women met dietary guidelines for iron ( 19 - 28 % ) . The findings from the current study indicate that public health interventions may be required to help expectant mothers achieve an optimal diet , particularly after birth when dietary recommendations increase for some micronutrients We have previously reported a protective effect of maternal omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids ( ω-3 LCPUFA ) supplementation in pregnancy and lactation on IgE-associated eczema and food allergy in the infant during the first year of life . Here we investigate whether the effects of the LCPUFA supplementation on IgE-associated diseases last up to 2 yr of age and assess the relationship between plasma proportions of ω-3 PUFAs and the frequency and severity of infant allergic disease . 145 pregnant women , at risk of having an allergic infant , were r and omized to daily supplementation with 1.6 g eicosapentaenoic acid ( EPA ) and 1.1 g docosahexaenoic acid ( DHA ) or placebo starting in the 25th gestational week and continuing through 3.5 months of breastfeeding . Clinical examinations , skin prick tests and analysis of maternal and infant plasma phospholipid fatty acids and infant specific IgE were performed . No difference in the prevalence of allergic symptoms was found between the intervention groups . The cumulative incidence of IgE-associated disease was lower in the ω-3-supplemented group ( 6/54 , 13 % ) compared with the placebo group ( 19/62 , 30 % , p=0.01 ) . Higher maternal and infant proportions of DHA and EPA were associated with lower prevalence of IgE associated disease ( p=0.01 - 0.05 ) in a dose-dependent manner . Higher maternal and infant proportions of DHA and EPA were found if the infants presented none , when compared with multiple allergic symptoms , ( p<0.05 ) regardless of sensitization . In summary , the ω-3 supplementation offered no obvious preventive effect on the prevalence of clinical symptoms of allergic disease , but the decrease in cumulative incidence of IgE-associated disease seen during the first year still remained until 2 yr of age . Furthermore , high proportions of DHA and EPA in maternal and infant plasma phospholipids were associated with less IgE-associated disease and a reduced severity of the allergic phenotype BACKGROUND Normal brain and visual development is thought to require exogenous docosahexaenoic acid ( DHA ; 22:6n-3 ) intake , but the amount needed is debatable . Because the supplementation of breastfeeding mothers with DHA increases the DHA content of their infants ' plasma lipids , we hypothesized that it might also improve brain or visual function in the infants . OBJECTIVE The objective was to determine the effect of DHA supplementation of breastfeeding mothers on neurodevelopmental status and visual function in the recipient infant . DESIGN Breastfeeding women received capsules containing either a high-DHA algal oil ( approximately 200 mg DHA/d ) or a vegetable oil ( no DHA ) for 4 mo after delivery . Outcome variables included the fatty acid pattern of maternal plasma phospholipid and milk lipids 4 mo postpartum , the fatty acid pattern of plasma phospholipids and visual function in infants at 4 and 8 mo of age , and neurodevelopmental indexes of the infants at 12 and 30 mo of age . RESULTS Milk lipid and infant plasma phospholipid DHA contents of the supplemented and control groups were approximately 75 % and approximately 35 % higher , respectively , at 4 mo postpartum . However , neither the neurodevelopmental indexes of the infants at 12 mo of age nor the visual function at 4 or 8 mo of age differed significantly between groups . In contrast , the Bayley Psychomotor Development Index , but not the Mental Development Index , of the supplemented group was higher ( P < 0.01 ) at 30 mo of age . CONCLUSION DHA supplementation  of breastfeeding mothers results in higher infant plasma phospholipid DHA contents during supplementation and a higher Bayley Psychomotor Development Index at 30 mo of age but results in no other advantages either at or before this age Reduced maternal thyroid hormone concentrations during pregnancy can adversely affect fetal neurological development . In the context of national iodine supplementation programmes , concern has been expressed over the theoretical possibility that iodine supplementation during pregnancy might adversely affect fetal development as a result of maternal thyroid inhibition from the Wolff-Chaikoff effect . In a double blind controlled trial in five villages in Papua New Guinea , several measures of motor and cognitive function showed no significant differences at either age 11 or 15 years between those children whose mothers had received supplementary iodine during pregnancy and the control children whose mothers had received the placebo We investigated whether administration of docosahexaenoic acid ( DHA ) , a major ( n-3 ) fatty acid of the brain , ameliorates the impairment of learning ability in an animal model of Alzheimer 's disease ( AD ) , rats infused with amyloid-beta ( Abeta ) peptide ( 1 - 40 ) into the cerebral ventricle . Inbred 3rd generation male rats ( 20 wk old ) fed a fish oil-deficient diet were r and omly divided into 4 groups : a vehicle group , an Abeta peptide-infused group ( Abeta group ) , a DHA group , and an Abeta + DHA group . A mini-osmotic pump filled with Abeta peptide or vehicle was implanted in the rats , and they were tested for learning ability-related reference and working memory in an 8-arm radial maze . The rats were then orally fed DHA dissolved in 5 % gum Arabic solution at 300 mg/(kg . d ) ( DHA and Abeta + DHA groups ) or vehicle alone ( vehicle and Abeta groups ) and tested again for learning ability . DHA administered for 12 wk significantly reduced the increase in the number of reference and working memory errors in the Abeta-infused rats , and increased both the cortico-hippocampal level of DHA and the molar ratio of DHA/arachidonic acid , suggesting an amelioration of the impaired spatial cognition learning ability . Furthermore , DHA suppressed the increases in the levels of lipid peroxide and reactive oxygen species in the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus of Abeta-infused rats , suggesting that DHA increases antioxidative defenses .  DHA is thus a possible therapeutic agent for ameliorating learning deficiencies due to Alzheimer 's disease BACKGROUND Docosahexaenoic acid ( DHA ) is important to neural development . Whether DHA intakes are low enough in some pregnant women to impair infant development is uncertain . OBJECTIVE We sought to determine whether DHA deficiency occurs in pregnant women and contributes to poor infant development . DESIGN Biochemical cutoffs , dietary intakes , or developmental scores indicative of DHA deficiency are not defined . Infant development has a distribution in which an individual 's potential development is unknown . This was a r and omized intervention to establish a distribution of developmental scores for infants of women with DHA intakes considered to be above requirements against which to compare the development of infants of mothers consuming their usual diet .  DHA ( 400 mg/d ; n = 67 ) or a placebo ( n = 68 ) was consumed by the women from 16 wk gestation until delivery . We determined maternal red blood cell ethanolamine phosphoglyceride fatty acids , dietary intakes at 16 and 36 wk gestation , and infant visual acuity at 60 d of age . RESULTS We described an approach to identify DHA deficiency when biochemical and functional markers of deficiency are unknown . In multivariate analyses , infant visual acuity was related to sex ( beta = 0.660 , SE = 0.93 , and odds ratio = 1.93 ) and maternal DHA intervention ( beta = 1.215 , SE = 1.64 , and odds ratio = 3.37 ) . More infant girls in the placebo than in the DHA intervention group had a visual acuity below average ( P = 0.048 ) . Maternal red blood cell ethan 
    Output:
    
agent
***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: OBJECTIVES Docosahexaenoic acid ( DHA ; 22:6 n-3 ) and arachidonic acid ( AA ; 20:4 n-6 ) are important for development of the central nervous system in mammals . There is a growth spurt in the human brain during the last trimester of pregnancy and the first postnatal months , with a large increase in the cerebral content of AA and DHA .  The fetus and the newborn infant depend on maternal supply of DHA and AA . Our hypothesis was that maternal intake of DHA during pregnancy and lactation is marginal and that high intake of this fatty acid would benefit the child . We examined the effect of supplementing pregnant and lactating women with very-long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids ( PUFAs ; cod liver oil ) on mental development of the children , compared with maternal supplementation with long-chain n-6 PUFAs ( corn oil ) . METHODS The study was r and omized and double-blinded . Pregnant women were recruited in week 18 of pregnancy to take 10 mL of cod liver oil or corn oil until 3 months after delivery . The cod liver oil contained 1183 mg/10 mL DHA , 803 mg/10 mL eicosapentaenoic acid ( 20:5 n-3 ) , and a total of 2494 mg/10 mL summation operator n-3 PUFAs . The corn oil contained 4747 mg/10 mL linoleic acid ( 18:2 n-6 ) and 92 mg/10 mL alpha-linolenic acid ( 18:3 n-3 ) . The amount of fat-soluble vitamins was identical in the 2 oils ( 117 micro g/mL vitamin A , 1 micro g/mL vitamin D , and 1.4 mg/mL dl-alpha-tocopherol ) . A total of 590 pregnant women were recruited to the study , and 341 mothers took part in the study until giving birth . All infants of these women were scheduled for assessment of cognitive function at 6 and 9 months of age , and 262 complied with the request . As part of the protocol , 135 subjects from this population were invited for intelligence testing  with the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children ( K-ABC ) at 4 years of age . Of the 135 invited children , 90 came for assessment . Six children did not complete the examination . The K-ABC is a measure of intelligence and achievement design ed for children aged 2.5 years through 12.5 years . This multisubtest battery comprises 4 scales : Sequential Processing , Simultaneous Processing , Achievement ( not used in the present study ) , and Nonverbal Abilities . The Sequential Processing and Simultaneous Processing scales are hypothesized to reflect the child 's style of problem solving and information processing . Scores from these 2 scales are combined to form a Mental Processing Composite , which serves as the measure of intelligence in the K-ABC . RESULTS We received dietary information from 76 infants ( 41 in the cod liver oil group and 35 in the corn oil group ) , documenting that all of them were breastfed at 3 months of age . Children who were born to mothers who had taken cod liver oil ( n = 48 ) during pregnancy and lactation scored higher on the Mental Processing Composite of the K-ABC at 4 years of age as compared with children whose mothers had taken  corn oil  ( n = 36 ; 106.4 [ 7.4 ] vs 102.3 [ 11.3 ] ) . The Mental Processing Composite score correlated significantly with head circumference at birth ( r = 0.23 ) , but no relation was found with birth weight or gestational length . The children 's mental processing scores at 4 years of age correlated significantly with maternal intake of DHA and eicosapentaenoic acid during pregnancy . In a multiple regression model , maternal intake of DHA during pregnancy was the only variable of statistical significance for the children 's mental processing scores at 4 years of age . CONCLUSION Maternal intake of very-long-chain n-3 PUFAs during pregnancy and lactation may be favorable for later mental development of children Micronutrient status is of fundamental importance both upon conception and throughout pregnancy . There is an abundance of literature investigating nutrient intakes during individual trimesters of pregnancy but few studies have investigated baseline intakes of nutrients throughout gestation as a continuum . The current investigation set out to measure habitual micronutrient intakes at weeks 13 , 25 , 35 of pregnancy and 6 weeks postpartum using a prospect i ve background information question naire , 4 - 7-day weighed food diary and postnatal question naire . Seventy-two primiparous , Caucasian Londoners were recruited at the study start with 42 completing the first , second , third trimester and postpartum study stages respectively . Study findings indicated that sodium intakes were significantly higher than UK guidelines throughout and after pregnancy ( P < 0.001 ) . Intakes of folate , iron , vitamin D , potassium , iodine and selenium were lower than UK recommendations during and after pregnancy , but to varying levels of statistical significance ( P < 0.05 ) . Only 23 - 38 % of women met UK recommendations for  folate  ( 300 microg day(-1 ) ) through dietary sources . Similarly , only a small percentage of women met dietary guidelines for iron ( 19 - 28 % ) . The findings from the current study indicate that public health interventions may be required to help expectant mothers achieve an optimal diet , particularly after birth when dietary recommendations increase for some micronutrients We have previously reported a protective effect of maternal omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids ( ω-3 LCPUFA ) supplementation in pregnancy and lactation on IgE-associated eczema and food allergy in the infant during the first year of life . Here we investigate whether the effects of the LCPUFA supplementation on IgE-associated diseases last up to 2 yr of age and assess the relationship between plasma proportions of ω-3 PUFAs and the frequency and severity of infant allergic disease . 145 pregnant women , at risk of having an allergic infant , were r and omized to daily supplementation with 1.6 g eicosapentaenoic acid ( EPA ) and 1.1 g docosahexaenoic acid ( DHA ) or placebo starting in the 25th gestational week and continuing through 3.5 months of breastfeeding . Clinical examinations , skin prick tests and analysis of maternal and infant plasma phospholipid fatty acids and infant specific IgE were performed . No difference in the prevalence of allergic symptoms was found between the intervention groups . The cumulative incidence of IgE-associated disease was lower in the ω-3-supplemented group ( 6/54 , 13 % ) compared with the placebo group ( 19/62 , 30 % , p=0.01 ) . Higher maternal and infant proportions of DHA and EPA were associated with lower prevalence of IgE associated disease ( p=0.01 - 0.05 ) in a dose-dependent manner . Higher maternal and infant proportions of DHA and EPA were found if the infants presented none , when compared with multiple allergic symptoms , ( p<0.05 ) regardless of sensitization . In summary , the ω-3 supplementation offered no obvious preventive effect on the prevalence of clinical symptoms of allergic disease , but the decrease in cumulative incidence of IgE-associated disease seen during the first year still remained until 2 yr of age . Furthermore , high proportions of DHA and EPA in maternal and infant plasma phospholipids were associated with less IgE-associated disease and a reduced severity of the allergic phenotype BACKGROUND Normal brain and visual development is thought to require exogenous docosahexaenoic acid ( DHA ; 22:6n-3 ) intake , but the amount needed is debatable . Because the supplementation of breastfeeding mothers with DHA increases the DHA content of their infants ' plasma lipids , we hypothesized that it might also improve brain or visual function in the infants . OBJECTIVE The objective was to determine the effect of DHA supplementation of breastfeeding mothers on neurodevelopmental status and visual function in the recipient infant . DESIGN Breastfeeding women received capsules containing either a high-DHA algal oil ( approximately 200 mg DHA/d ) or a vegetable oil ( no DHA ) for 4 mo after delivery . Outcome variables included the fatty acid pattern of maternal plasma phospholipid and milk lipids 4 mo postpartum , the fatty acid pattern of plasma phospholipids and visual function in infants at 4 and 8 mo of age , and neurodevelopmental indexes of the infants at 12 and 30 mo of age . RESULTS Milk lipid and infant plasma phospholipid DHA contents of the supplemented and control groups were approximately 75 % and approximately 35 % higher , respectively , at 4 mo postpartum . However , neither the neurodevelopmental indexes of the infants at 12 mo of age nor the visual function at 4 or 8 mo of age differed significantly between groups . In contrast , the Bayley Psychomotor Development Index , but not the Mental Development Index , of the supplemented group was higher ( P < 0.01 ) at 30 mo of age . CONCLUSION DHA supplementation  of breastfeeding mothers results in higher infant plasma phospholipid DHA contents during supplementation and a higher Bayley Psychomotor Development Index at 30 mo of age but results in no other advantages either at or before this age Reduced maternal thyroid hormone concentrations during pregnancy can adversely affect fetal neurological development . In the context of national iodine supplementation programmes , concern has been expressed over the theoretical possibility that iodine supplementation during pregnancy might adversely affect fetal development as a result of maternal thyroid inhibition from the Wolff-Chaikoff effect . In a double blind controlled trial in five villages in Papua New Guinea , several measures of motor and cognitive function showed no significant differences at either age 11 or 15 years between those children whose mothers had received supplementary iodine during pregnancy and the control children whose mothers had received the placebo We investigated whether administration of docosahexaenoic acid ( DHA ) , a major ( n-3 ) fatty acid of the brain , ameliorates the impairment of learning ability in an animal model of Alzheimer 's disease ( AD ) , rats infused with amyloid-beta ( Abeta ) peptide ( 1 - 40 ) into the cerebral ventricle . Inbred 3rd generation male rats ( 20 wk old ) fed a fish oil-deficient diet were r and omly divided into 4 groups : a vehicle group , an Abeta peptide-infused group ( Abeta group ) , a DHA group , and an Abeta + DHA group . A mini-osmotic pump filled with Abeta peptide or vehicle was implanted in the rats , and they were tested for learning ability-related reference and working memory in an 8-arm radial maze . The rats were then orally fed DHA dissolved in 5 % gum Arabic solution at 300 mg/(kg . d ) ( DHA and Abeta + DHA groups ) or vehicle alone ( vehicle and Abeta groups ) and tested again for learning ability . DHA administered for 12 wk significantly reduced the increase in the number of reference and working memory errors in the Abeta-infused rats , and increased both the cortico-hippocampal level of DHA and the molar ratio of DHA/arachidonic acid , suggesting an amelioration of the impaired spatial cognition learning ability . Furthermore , DHA suppressed the increases in the levels of lipid peroxide and reactive oxygen species in the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus of Abeta-infused rats , suggesting that DHA increases antioxidative defenses .  DHA is thus a possible therapeutic agent for ameliorating learning deficiencies due to Alzheimer 's disease BACKGROUND Docosahexaenoic acid ( DHA ) is important to neural development . Whether DHA intakes are low enough in some pregnant women to impair infant development is uncertain . OBJECTIVE We sought to determine whether DHA deficiency occurs in pregnant women and contributes to poor infant development . DESIGN Biochemical cutoffs , dietary intakes , or developmental scores indicative of DHA deficiency are not defined . Infant development has a distribution in which an individual 's potential development is unknown . This was a r and omized intervention to establish a distribution of developmental scores for infants of women with DHA intakes considered to be above requirements against which to compare the development of infants of mothers consuming their usual diet .  DHA ( 400 mg/d ; n = 67 ) or a placebo ( n = 68 ) was consumed by the women from 16 wk gestation until delivery . We determined maternal red blood cell ethanolamine phosphoglyceride fatty acids , dietary intakes at 16 and 36 wk gestation , and infant visual acuity at 60 d of age . RESULTS We described an approach to identify DHA deficiency when biochemical and functional markers of deficiency are unknown . In multivariate analyses , infant visual acuity was related to sex ( beta = 0.660 , SE = 0.93 , and odds ratio = 1.93 ) and maternal DHA intervention ( beta = 1.215 , SE = 1.64 , and odds ratio = 3.37 ) . More infant girls in the placebo than in the DHA intervention group had a visual acuity below average ( P = 0.048 ) . Maternal red blood cell ethan 
    Output:
    