Sponsor
Intramural Research Program of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH Grant Numbers HHSN275200403394C, HHSN275201100002I & HHSN27500001. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), NIH Grant Number P30-DK46200 .
Published In
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-2016
Subjects
Estradiol, Menstrual cycle, Anovulation -- Risk factors, High-fiber diet
Abstract
Background: Emerging evidence suggests potential links between some dietary fatty acids and improved fertility, because specific fatty acids may affect prostaglandin synthesis and steroidogenesis.
Objective: The objective of this exploratory study was to evaluate associations between total and specific types of dietary fat intake and 1) hormone concentrations and 2) the risk of sporadic anovulation in a cohort of 259 regularly menstruating women in the BioCycle Study.
Design: Endogenous reproductive hormones were measured up to 8 times/cycle for up to 2 cycles, with visits scheduled with the use of fertility monitors. Dietary intake was assessed with up to four 24-h recalls/cycle. Linear mixed models and generalized linear models were used to evaluate the associations between dietary fatty acids and both reproductive hormone concentrations and ovulatory status. All models were adjusted for total energy intake, age, body mass index, and race.
Results: Relative to the lowest levels of percentage of energy from total fat, the highest tertile was associated with increased total and free testosterone concentrations (total: percentage change of 4.0%; 95% CI: 0.7%, 7.3%; free: percentage change of 4.1%; 95% CI: 0.5%, 7.7%). In particular, the percentage of energy from polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in the highest tertile was associated with increases in total and free testosterone (total: percentage change of 3.7%; 95% CI: 0.6%, 6.8%; free: percentage change of 4.0%; 95% CI: 0.5%, 7.5%). The PUFA docosapentaenoic acid (22:5n–3) was not significantly associated with testosterone concentrations (P-trend = 0.86 in energy substitution models) but was associated with increased progesterone and a reduced risk of anovulation (highest tertile compared with the lowest tertile: RR: 0.42; 95% CI: 0.18, 0.95). Fat intakes were not associated with other reproductive hormone concentrations.
Conclusions: These results indicate that total fat intake, and PUFA intake in particular, is associated with very small increases in testosterone concentrations in healthy women and that increased docosapentaenoic acid was associated with a lower risk of anovulation.
DOI
10.3945/ajcn.115.119321
Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/16965
Citation Details
Mumford, S. L., Chavarro, J. E., Zhang, C., Perkins, N. J., Sjaarda, L. A., Pollack, A. Z., … Wactawski-Wende, J. (2016). Dietary fat intake and reproductive hormone concentrations and ovulation in regularly menstruating women. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 103(3), 868–77.
Included in
Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Commons, Women's Health Commons
Description
To the best of our knowledge, this work was authored as part of the Contributor's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government.
Published 2016 by the American Society of Nutrition.