Maternal DHA Intake and Febrile Seizures: What Animal and Child Studies Show

This study looked at whether DHA (an omega-3 fatty acid) taken during pregnancy might influence febrile seizures, which are convulsions that can occur in young children during a fever. Researchers used both pregnant mice and blood samples from children who had experienced febrile seizures.

In mice, DHA given during pregnancy raised brain DHA levels and also raised levels of the hormone 17β-estradiol (E2) in the offspring. These mice showed a delayed onset of febrile-type seizures, and this protective pattern disappeared when the mice were given a drug (letrozole) that blocks E2 production, suggesting E2 played a key role. DHA-exposed mice also showed less brain inflammation after a febrile seizure and were less sensitive to seizures later in life, again in an E2-dependent way.

In the human portion of the study, children who had experienced febrile seizures had lower blood levels of both DHA and E2 compared with children who had not, and a marker of inflammation (interleukin-1 beta) was inversely related to E2 levels. Overall, the findings suggest a possible biological link between DHA status, hormone levels, and seizure-related brain inflammation, though the human data were observational and cannot show cause and effect.