Fish oil supplementation from 9 to 18 months of age affects the insulin-like growth factor axis in a sex-specific manner in Danish XXXX .

@entity1 @entity8393 @entity442 @entity2301
UNASSIGNED: Several studies have investigated the effects of fish oil (FO) on @entity1 growth, but little is known about the effects of FO and sex on @entity442 ( @entity442 ), the main regulator of growth in childhood. We explored whether FO v. sunflower oil (SO) supplementation from 9 to 18 months of age affected @entity442 and its binding protein-3 ( @entity2301 ) and whether the potential effects were sex specific. Danish @entity1 (n 115) were randomly allocated to 5 ml/d FO (1  2 g/d n-3 long-chain PUFA (n-3 LCPUFA)) or SO. We measured growth, @entity442 , @entity2301 and erythrocyte EPA, a biomarker of n-3 LCPUFA intake and status, at 9 and 18 months. Erythrocyte @entity8393 increased strongly with FO compared with SO (P<0  001). There were no effects of FO compared with SO on @entity442 in the total population, but a sex*group interaction (P=0  02). Baseline-adjusted @entity442 at 18 months was 11  1   g/l (95 % CI 0  4, 21  8; P=0  04) higher after FO compared with SO supplementation among @entity1 only. The sex*group interaction was borderline significant in the model of @entity2301 (P=0  09), with lower @entity2301 with FO compared with SO among @entity1 only (P=0  03). The results were supported by sex-specific dose-response associations between changes in erythrocyte EPA and changes in @entity442 and @entity2301 (both P<0  03). Moreover, @entity442 was sex specifically associated with BMI and length. In conclusion, FO compared with SO resulted in higher @entity442 among @entity1 and lower @entity2301 among @entity1 . The potential long-term implications for growth and body composition should be investigated further.
