Browsing by Author "Tichelaar, H. Y."

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    The effect of severe pre-eclampsia on maternal and cord erythrocyte membrane essential fatty acid profiles
    (Health & Medical Publishing Group, 1998) Kirsten, G. F.; Smuts, C. M.; Tichelaar, H. Y.; Smith, J.; Hall, D.; Faber, M.; Dhansay, M. A.
    Objective. To examine the effect of severe pre-eclampsia on maternal and cord erythrocyte membrane essential fatty acid profiles. Design. Clinical trial. Setting. Obstetric High Care Unit, Tygerberg Hospital. Patients. Erythrocyte membrane (EM) essential fatty acid profiles were determined in 17 women with severe preeclampsia, in 17 normotensive pregnant women, and in the cord blood of their respective infants. Results. Pre-eclamptic women had lower EM phosphatidylcholine linoleic acid (C18:2n-6; LA) and cclinolenic acid (C18:3n-3; ALA) levels and lower EM phosphatidylethanolamine ALA levels than the normotensive women with lower cord blood docosahexaenoic acid levels (C22:6n-3; DHA) in both phospholipid fractions. All cord blood arachidonic acid (C20:4n-6; AA) levels were higher than the maternal levels. Conclusions. Pre-eclamptic women have lower LA and ALA levels than normotensive pregnant women, but AA and DHA levels in the two groups are similar. The cord blood DHA levels of infants of pre-eclamptic women are lower than those of the infants of normotensive women. Infants born to pre-eclamptic women may need dietary DHA to replenish DHA stores. This can be obtained from breast-milk or from a formula enriched with DHA.
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    The effect of iron fortification on the fatty acid composition of plasma and erythrocyte membranes in primary school children with and without iron-deficiency
    (1994) Smuts, C. M.; Tichelaar, H. Y.; Van Jaarsveld, P. J.; Badenhorst, C. J.; Kruger, M.; Laubscher, R.; Mansvelt, E. P. G.; Benade, A. J. S.
    An intervention study was designed to evaluate the fatty acid (FA) status of children aged 6-11 years before and after iron fortification. Iron deficient (ID) and matched controls without ID (n = 30) were selected. All children received soup (160 mL) fortified with 20 mg iron and 100 mg vitamin C for 15 weeks on school days. Measurements before and after intervention included dietary intake, haematological and iron status and FA composition of plasma and erythrocyte membranes (EMBs). The prevalence of low plasma ferritin concentration and transferrin saturation decreased in the ID children by 40% and 56%, respectively, with intervention. Plasma FAs reflected dietary FA intake. In comparison with controls, the ID group presented with increased percentage total saturated FAs (SFAs; p = 0.0002) in their EMB phosphatidylcholine (PC) and reduced percentage total polyunsaturated FAs (PUFAs; p = 0.0037) before intervention. Lower total n-3 FAs (p = 0.0070) including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; p = 0.0034), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA; p = 0.0048) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; p = 0.0058) were observed in the ID group. The EMB phosphatidylethanolamine (PEA) of the ID children presented with lower percentages of α-linolenic acid (ALA; p = 0.0001), EPA (p = 0.0051) and DHA (p = 0.0084) compared to controls before intervention. Iron intervention was associated with an increase (p < 0.05) in the percentage of n-3 FAs in the EMB-PC and -PEA of the ID group to percentages comparable to that in the control group. It appears that iron status can influence FA metabolism of specific n-3 FAs in the EMBs of young children.