TOTAL PLASMA PHOSPHOLIPID AA AND DHA AND PLASMA CHOLESTEROL FROM INFANTS FED HUMAN MILK, STANDARD INFANT FORMULA OR LCP-SUPPLEMENTED INFANT FORMULA

Clandinin, M.T¹, Van Aerde, J¹, Goldman, W², Pramuk, K²

University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada ¹ Wyeth Nutritionals Intl, USA ²

Objective: To measure blood phospholipids and plasma cholesterol in term infants fed human milk, standard infant formula or infant formula supplemented with long -chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (AA and DHA)

Methods: Double-blind (for formula groups), prospective, parallel study. Blood sample at age 16 weeks analyzed via GLC for total phospholipid fatty acid composition. Results:

Variable	Formula (n=14)	LCP Formula (n=16)	Human Milk (n=16)
AA (mg/mL)	40±4 ^b	62±9 ^a	58±6^a
DHA (mg/mL)	11±2^a	22±3^b	15±2^a
Chol (mg/dL)	110±4	125±6	119±7

Values are group means ± SEM (number of subjects). Means within a row that do not share a common superscript are significantly different.

Discussion/ Conclusion: The LCP fortified formula in this study contained 0.3% total fatty acids as arachidonic acid (AA) and 0.2% total fatty acids as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) from microbial fermentation oils. Infants fed formula containing 0.3% AA and 0.2% DHA achieved similar plasma AA levels and higher DHA levels than Canadian breast fed infants. DHA content of human milk is related to mother's dietary intake: previous analyses of human milk from women in Edmonton showed exceptionally low DHA levels. Study formulas contained some innate cholesterol, which may have masked any effect of LCPs to influence cholesterol metabolism. In this study, the mean plasma cholesterol level in the reference group of infants exclusively fed human milk did not differ from mean plasma cholesterol levels of infants exclusively fed either standard or LCP supplemented infant formula.

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