Fatty acid profiles,antioxidantstatus,and growth of preterm infants fed diets without or withlong-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids

Summary. Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCP) areconsidered conditionally essential nutrients for the infant bornprematurely, and attempts are being made to match fatty acidprofiles of formula and breast fed infants. In thisdouble-blind, randomized study we investigated the effects of aformula enriched with both n-6 and n-3 LCP on plasma fatty acidprofiles, antioxidant status and growth of premature infants. 29infants received either a formula devoid of LCP or a LCPsupplemented formula (0.5 g/100 g fat linoleic acid metabolites,0.8 g/100 g fat -linolenic acid metabolites). 17 breast fedinfants served as a control group. At study entry as well as twoand four weeks later, plasma and urine samples were collected,growth data obtained and food tolerance was documented. At theend of the four week study period, plasma docosahexaenoic acid(DHA) levels of supplemented infants were significantly higherthan those of unsupplemented infants and similar to those ofinfants fed human milk. Plasma n-6 LCP concentrations includingarachidonic acid (AA) were similar between groups. The plasma-tocopherol levels of breast fed and supplemented infants weresimilar and tended to be lower than in infants fed the formuladevoid of LCP. Urinary malondialdehyde (MDA) excretion offormula fed infants was significantly higher compared to infantsfed human milk, but did not differ between the two formulagroups. Parameters of growth and milk tolerance did not differbetween groups. Our results demonstrate that plasma LCP levelssimilar to those of breast fed infants can be achieved with theLCP supplemented formula used in this trial, without evidence ofadverse effects of the LCP enrichment.AA arachidonic acid - ALA -linolenic acid - DGLA dihomo--linolenic acid - DHA docosahexaenoic acid - EPA eicosapentaenoic acid - F formula devoid of LCP - GLA -linolenic acid - HM human milk - LA linoleic acid - LCP long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids - LCP-F formula enriched with LCP - MDA malondialdehyde - PC phosphatidylcholine - PCA postconceptional age - PE phosphatidylethanolamine - PUFA polyunsaturated fatty acid