Inflammation associated gene expression in the mammary gland of lactating mothers who delivered preterm and were randomly assigned to DHA supplementation.

Background: This is a transcriptome analysis of specimens obtained from a randomized trial of lactating mothers assigned to 200mg/day DHA, STD or 1000mg/day DHA, EXP. Methods: High quality extracellular mammary epithelial cell mRNA was isolated from fresh milk fat and submitted for RNA-sequencing in n=6 EXP and n=4 STD samples. Results: There were 409 DEG. In the EXP group, up-regulation of inflammation-inbibiting genes was seen and down-regulation of pro-inflammatory genes. Ontological analysis revealed 5 clusters of up-regulated gene sets in the EXP group, including immune regulation and management of oxidative stress associated clusters. Conclusion: Findings reveal that increased DHA supplementation during lactation can modulate the expression of inflammation-associated genes within the mammary gland. Overall design: RNA-seq of mammary epithelial cell mRNA isolated from fresh milk fat globule.