DHA supplementation during pregnancy enhances maternal vagally mediated cardiac autonomic control in humans
Open accessAbstract
Background DHA is an essential omega-3 (ω-3; n-3) fatty acid that has well-established benefits for the fetus. DHA also has the potential to influence the health of the mother, but this area is understudied. Objectives The objective of this secondary analysis was to determine if DHA was related to maternal heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) metrics in a large cohort of pregnant women. Methods In the parent trial (1R01HD086001) eligible participants (≥18 y old, English speaking, carrying a singleton pregnancy, 12-20 wk of gestation) were randomly assigned to consume 200 mg/d or 800 mg/d DHA for the duration of their pregnancy (n = 300). Weight, blood pressure, and magnetocardiograms (MCGs) were collected at 32 wk and 36 wk of gestation (n = 221). Measures of HR and HRV in time-, frequency-, and nonlinear-domains were determined from the isolated maternal MCG. Treatment group and timepoint were examined as predictors in association with HR and HRV metrics using random-intercept mixed-effects ANOVA unadjusted and adjusted models accounting for weight and dietary DHA intake. Results Women receiving the higher dose of DHA (800 mg/d) during pregnancy had lower HR, lower sympathetic index, higher vagally mediated HRV indices, and greater HRV complexity when compared with the women who received the lower dose (200 mg/d; all P Conclusions DHA supplementation increases vagal tone in pregnant women. Longitudinal studies examining the potential link between DHA, enhanced va…
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Omega-3 treatment reduces resting heart rate through increasing vagal tone even at relatively low doses of about 500 mg/d.
“Omega-3 treatment has been shown to reduce resting heart rate121 through increasing vagal tone even at relatively low doses of about 500 mg/d121, 122.”
From Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Treatment on Risk for Atrial Fibrillation: An Updated Meta-Analysis of 35 Trials including 114 592 Individuals (2026) · cites this paper as [122]
Cites
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DHA supplementation and pregnancy outcomes
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Self-citationPoincaré plot indexes of heart rate variability: relationships with other nonlinear variables
Hoshi, R. A., Pastre, C. M., Vanderlei, L. C. M., & Godoy, M. F. (2013) · Autonomic Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.autneu.2013.05.004 · Cited by 201 · see citing works
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Omega-3 and risk of atrial fibrillation: vagally-mediated double-edged sword
O'Keefe, E. L., O'Keefe, J. H., Abuissa, H., Metzinger, M., Murray, E., Franco, G., Lavie, C. J., & Harris, W. S. (2025) · Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases · doi:10.1016/j.pcad.2024.11.003 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Abuknesha, N. R., O’Keefe, J. H., Qian, F., Tintle, N. L., Lin, Y., Sun, Y., Qian, H.-Z., Aisen, P. S., Albert, C. M., Aronson, W. J., et al. (2026) · Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology · doi:10.1161/circep.125.014785 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Omega-3 treatment has been shown to reduce resting heart rate 120 through increasing vagal tone even at relatively low doses of about 500 mg/d. 120,121 These dose-dependent vagotonic actions of omega-3 suggest a mechanism that may in part explain the divergent effects on risk of developing AF,…”
- Authors
- Christifano, D. N., Chollet-Hinton, L., Mathis, N. B., Gajewski, B. J., Carlson, S. E., Colombo, J., & Gustafson, K. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Kansas Medical Center (US)
- University of Kansas (US)
- Corresponding author
- Christifano, Danielle N
- ORCID
- Venue
- The Journal of Nutrition
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-12
- Volume
- 152
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 2708-2715
- ISSN
- 0022-3166 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9839999
- OpenAlex
- W4291012186
- Cited by
- 10
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 1.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Nutrition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (1R01HD086001)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Fatty Acid Research and Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
- Keywords
- docosahexaenoic acid, omega-3 fatty acids, prenatal supplementation, pregnancy, vagal tone, cardiac autonomic control, heart rate variability, magnetocardiography, maternal heart rate, nonlinear HRV measures, preterm birth
- MeSH terms
- Docosahexaenoic Acids, Female, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Mothers, Pregnancy, Fatty Acids, Omega-3, Dietary Supplements, Premature Birth
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