Objective It has been proposed that maternal nutrition during pregnancy might be one of the factors contributing to the development of allergic disease in childhood. It remains controversial whether maternal fatty acid composition at delivery is related to possible priming of atopy in the offsprings in early life. We aimed to investigate the relationship of the maternal n-6 and n-3 fatty acid status at delivery, with the early manifestation of atopic dermatitis (AD) in their offsprings.

Methods Blood samples were collected from 206 pregnant women at delivery. The fatty acid composition of the erythrocyte membrane was determined by gas chromatography. Mothers were divided in two groups: atopic (A) and non-atopic (B). Their infants were followed up for the development of AD during the first 6 months of life.

Results Groups A and B consisted of 62 (30.1%) and 144 (69.9%) mothers respectively. AD developed 14/62 infants (22,6%) in Group A and in 27/144 infants (18,8%) in Group B. Increased levels of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) were negatively associated with AD (OR = 0.35, 95% CI = 0.13, p = 0.031), while increased levels of γ-linolenic acid (γ-LA, 18:3n-6) were positively associated with AD (OR = 4.95, 95% CI = 1.24, p = 0.023) in Group A.

Conclusions Our data suggest that maternal blood levels of n-3 and n-6 fatty acids may play a role in the development of allergic disease in the first 6 months of life. Docosahexaenoic acid may have a protective effect on the development of AD while γ-linolenic acid is related to an increased risk of AD in their infants.