1. Lotte Lauritzen 1, Helle L. Harbild 1, Laurine B.S. Harsløf 1, & Jeppe H. Christensen 2 1 Dept. of Human Nutrition, University of Copenhagen, & 2 Dept. of Nephrology, Aarhus University Hospital-Aalborg, Denmark Area : 27/911 Introduction: Intake of marine n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LCPUFA) has been shown to improve perinatal development of the central nervous system (CNS) and to reduce risk of cardiovascular dysfunction late in life. Design: a 2×2-intervention, healthy 9 mo-old infants, who were randomized to ±FO (3.4±1.1 ml/d) and cow’s milk or formula for 3 mo - 83 (87%) infants completed the trial. Outcomes: free play-test (successfully completed by 63), 0.5-h ECG recordings (successfully completed by 57). 39 infants had both set of data at both 9 and 12 mo. Compliance: Erythrocyte eicosapentaenoic acid (RBC - EPA). Statistics: only for ±FO, as milk did not affect outcomes. Group comparisons are gender and baseline adjusted. Poster Reference Number : Subject characteristics (x±SD (n))+FO-FOP Gender, Female/Male21/19 (39)21/23 (44)0,667 Gestational age (wks)39,6 ± 1,3 (39)39,7 ± 1,4 (44)0,987 Birth weight (kg) 3,7 ± 0,5 (39) 3,7 ± 0,5 (44)0,931 Maternal education (y)17,0 ± 2,7 (39)17,2 ± 2,7 (44)0,734 Exclusive breast-feeding (mo) 4,1 ± 1,6 (38) 4,1 ± 1,6 (43)0,897 Partial breast-feeding 9-12 mo (yes/no)11/2824/200,014* Visit (n +FO/-FO) Age at study entry (mo±wks) Duration of trial (mo±wks) (46/49) (39/44) 9,09 ± 0,31 3,04 ± 0,19 9,10 ± 0,28 2,99 ± 0,19 0,800 0,217 Length at 9 mo (cm) Growth 9-12 mo (cm) (46/48) (39/42) 72,03 ± 2,18 3,65 ± 0,92 72,25 ± 2,31 3,81 ± 0,95 0,640 0,455 Weight at 9 mo (kg) Weight gain 9-12 mo (kg) (46/49) (39/44) 9,25 ± 0,89 0,77 ± 0,33 9,05 ± 0,80 0,72 ± 0,32 0,279 0,472 9 mo head circumference (cm) Increase in HC (cm) (46/49) (39/44) 45,97 ± 1,38 0,97 ± 0,60 45,91 ± 1,44 0,83 ± 0,65 0,844 0,315 r 2 =0.103, p=0.053, n=39 r 2 =0.740, p<0.001, n=53 Objective: to investigate if fish oil (FO)-supplementation in late infancy modifies heart rate (HR) and score on a free play-test and to see if these changes are related to one another. Conclusions: As both CNS-regulated functions are affected in parallel, this may imply that the “cognitive” and the “cardiovascular” effects of n-3 LCPUFA are related. The results furthermore show that n-3 LCPUFA also in late infancy influence CNS-development. Fish oil-supplementation in 9-12 mo old infants affects heart rate and attention in a free play-test Results: 1) FO-supplementation raised RBC-EPA in a dose-response manner to a final concentration of 3.2±0.2 % of the RBC fatty acids in the +FO-group vs. 0.7±0.2 % in –FO at 12 mo (p<0.001) (J. Nutr. 136: 94-99, 2006). 2) Most of the free play-scores differed significantly with age and gender. The only score difference between ±FO was an increase in the number of quite inattention episodes in +FO relative to a decrease in -FO. The increase in quite inattention was associated with the increase RBC-EPA (r 2 =0.122, p=0.040, n=35). 3) FO-supplementation lead to an degrease in HR (mainly in boys) and this too was associated with RBC- EPA (r RR 2 =0.506, p<0.001, n=30 – not shown, but published in Ped. Res. 64 (6): 610-614, 2008). 4) The changes in mean RR-interval and in number of quite inattentive episodes were nearly correlated. Cognitive scores ( x±SD and repeated measure test) Age (mo) +FO-FO p sex (at 9 mo) p age (12 vs. 9 mo) p fish oil (9-12 mo-) Girls (n=14)Boys (n=14)Girls (n=14)Boys (n=21) Relative time on (%) 972±2284±1173±1779±12 0.0100.0050.705 1262±1772±1769±1373±14 Δ 9-12-9±24-12±22-4±22-6±16 Time/look on (sec/look) 918±1925±1421±2518±9 0.3280.0010.892 129±313±511±513±4 Δ 9-12-9±18-12±14-5±9-7±17 No. of looks off (Avg time/look off ≈5 sec at both 9 & 12 mo) 914±611±512±815±6 0.348 0.001 Interaction age*sex*FO p=0.041 0.430 1220±619±621±718±4 Δ 9-126±88±69±82±9 - No. due to parent interaction 90.8±1.20.2±0.40.4±0.60.6±1.1 0.6310.104 0.923 Interaction sex*FO p=0.071 120.2±0.4 0.3±0.5 Δ 9-12-0.6±1.50.0±0.6-0.1±0.8-0.2±1.3 - No. due to social reference 99±6 8±510±5 0.439 0.001 Interaction age*sex p=0.070 0.478 1215±515±719±714±5 Δ 9-126±86±711±94±7 - No. due to active inattention 91.4±1.80.5±1.61.5±1.70.8±1.4 0.301 0.259 Interaction age*sex p=0.072 0.934 120.9±1.20.9±1.40.6±1.20.9±1.,4 Δ 9-12-0.5±1.50.3±1.7-0.9±2.10.0±2.0 - No. due to quite inattention 93.4±3.01.3±1.63.0±4.04.7±2.9 0.991 0.836 Interaction age*FO p=0.003 0.739 Interaction sex*FO p=0.019 123.8±2.93.4±2.12.0±1.52.8±2.0 Δ 9-120.4±3.72.1±2.3-1.0±4.3-1.9±3.0