M Makrides¹, R Gibson², B Manley³, C Collins¹, P Ryan², P Davis^3
1Women’s and Children’s Health Research Institute, North adelaide, Australia
²University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
³Royal Women’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

Background: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) may reduce childhood atopy. The DINO trial is the first long-term outcome study of DHA supplementation in preterm infants. Objective: We report the effect on allergic and respiratory symptoms overall and in prespecified subgroups. Procedure: DINO is a multicentre RCT designed to study the long-term efficacy of high-dose dietary DHA in infants less than 33 weeks’ gestation. Lactating women received tuna oil supplements to increase the DHA content of their milk. Preterm infant formula with matching DHA composition was used if there was insufficient breast milk. Treatment continued until term.

Results: 657 infants were enrolled, 93.5% completed 18-month follow-up. DHA significantly reduced parental report of medically diagnosed hayfever at either 12 or 18 months of corrected age in male infants (p=0.01), and was associated with a borderline reduction in all infants with birth weight (BW) <1250g (p=0.05). There was no effect on asthma, eczema, or food allergy. There was a reduction in supplemental oxygen use at 36 weeks corrected age in male infants (p=0.03) and all infants with BW <1250g (p=0.04). There was no effect on duration of respiratory support, length of admission or requirement for home oxygen.

Conclusions: DHA supplementation for infants less than 33 weeks’ gestation reduces hayfever in male infants. DHA reduces bronchopulmonary dysplasia in male infants, and in all infants <1250g.

Keywords: Allergy and respiratory outcomes, DINO (DHA for the improvement of neurodevelopmental outcome in preterm infants)
Schlüsselwörter: Frühgeborene, lcPUFA, Allergie