{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T05:43:40Z","timestamp":1785908620169,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785888000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Nutr."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Maternal dietary fat quality during pregnancy plays a crucial role in fetal growth, neurodevelopment, and long-term metabolic health. Regional dietary patterns may influence maternal\u2013fetal fatty acid transfer, yet data integrating maternal, placental, and fetal compartments remain limited. This study evaluates the impact of regional dietary patterns on fatty acid composition in maternal venous serum, placental tissue, and umbilical venous serum in pregnant women from three distinct regions of Croatia.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This multicenter prospective study included 44 healthy pregnant women undergoing elective cesarean delivery in Osijek (Slavonia), Zagreb (Central Croatia), and Split (Dalmatia) during the study period (2014\u20132017). Fatty acid composition was analyzed in maternal venous serum, placental tissue, and umbilical venous serum using gas chromatography. Saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 and n-6) were quantified and compared across regions. The primary statistical methods used Kruskal-Wallis test with Bonferroni correction and Spearman's rank correlation.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Maternal venous serum DHA concentrations and proportions were significantly higher in women from Split and Zagreb compared with Osijek. The AA:DHA ratio was highest in the Osijek group and lowest in Split, reflecting regional dietary differences. Fatty acid concentrations of total fatty serum in umbilical venous serum were strongly correlated with maternal serum levels (\u03c1 = 0.71,\n                      <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt; 0.001) but were significantly lower in absolute terms. Despite this, the fetus exhibited higher relative proportions of DHA and arachidonic acid and lower proportions of linoleic acid, indicating selective placental transfer. Placental DHA proportion was highest in the Split group, while placental arachidonic acid concentration was highest in Osijek.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Regional dietary patterns significantly influence maternal, placental, and fetal fatty acid composition. Diets rich in marine foods are associated with more favorable DHA status and AA:DHA ratios during pregnancy. These findings support targeted nutritional counseling and DHA\/EPA supplementation in regions with traditionally low marine food intake.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2026.1883073","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T04:44:20Z","timestamp":1785905060000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Regional dietary patterns and their impact on maternal, placental, and fetal fatty acid profiles during pregnancy: a multicenter study from Croatia"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Mislav","family":"Herman","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Referral Centre Ministry of Health, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, School of Medicine University of Zagreb","place":["Zagreb, Croatia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marina","family":"Ivanisevic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Referral Centre Ministry of Health, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, School of Medicine University of Zagreb","place":["Zagreb, Croatia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Josip","family":"Delmis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Referral Centre Ministry of Health, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, School of Medicine University of Zagreb","place":["Zagreb, Croatia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"93","DOI":"10.1159\/000496471","article-title":"Nutrition during pregnancy, lactation and early childhood and its implications for maternal and long-term child health: the early nutrition project recommendations","volume":"74","author":"Koletzko","year":"2019","journal-title":"Ann Nutr Metab."},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"791","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biochi.2009.01.008","article-title":"Polyunsaturated fatty acids and inflammatory processes: new twists in an old tale","volume":"91","author":"Calder","year":"2009","journal-title":"Biochimie."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3945\/ajcn.113.072595","article-title":"Impact of maternal diet on human milk composition and neurological development of infants","author":"Innis","year":"2014","journal-title":"Am J Clin Nutr."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3945\/ajcn.110.001230","article-title":"Placental transfer of fatty acids and fetal implications","author":"Larqu\u00e9","year":"2011","journal-title":"Am J Clin Nutr."},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"365","DOI":"10.1016\/S0753-3322(02)00253-6","article-title":"The importance of the ratio of omega-6\/omega-3 essential fatty acids","volume":"56","author":"Simopoulos","year":"2002","journal-title":"Biomed Pharmacother."},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"568","DOI":"10.1038\/nrn2421","article-title":"Brain foods: the effects of nutrients on brain function","volume":"9","author":"G\u00f3mez-Pinilla","year":"2008","journal-title":"Nat Rev Neurosci."},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1077","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(86)91340-1","article-title":"Infant mortality, childhood nutrition, and ischaemic heart disease in England and Wales","volume":"1","author":"Barker","year":"1986","journal-title":"Lancet."},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"511","DOI":"10.1097\/GRF.0b013e31829cb9ca","article-title":"The obstetric origins of health for a lifetime","volume":"56","author":"Barker","year":"2013","journal-title":"Clin Obstet Gynecol."},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"555","DOI":"10.1080\/0144361031000156483","article-title":"The fetal origin of adult diseases","volume":"23","author":"Sallout","year":"2003","journal-title":"J Obstet Gynaecol."},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"566","DOI":"10.3325\/cmj.2011.52.566","article-title":"Continental-Mediterranean and rural-urban differences in cardiovascular risk factors in Croatian population","volume":"52","author":"Bergman Markovi\u0107","year":"2011","journal-title":"Croat Med J."},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.3390\/nu13010019","article-title":"Impact of maternal obesity on the metabolism and bioavailability of polyunsaturated fatty acids during pregnancy and breastfeeding","volume":"13","author":"\u00c1lvarez","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nutrients."},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5537","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules26185537","article-title":"Wine, polyphenols, and Mediterranean diets. 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