Effect of breast-feeding on plasma cholesterol and weight in young adults.

Abstract

SUMMARY The relation between breast-feeding and plasma cholesterol level in adult life was examined in a longitudinal study of a sample of people born in 1946. One hundred and seventy-two subjects whose breast-feeding history had been recorded during infancy were examined when they were 32 years old. Women who had been breast-fed had significantly lower mean plasma cholesterol than women who had been bottle-fed (5.4 mmol/l compared with 5.9 mmol/1). Material and methodsIn 1946, the National Survey consisted of 5362 newborns. These were all the legitimate singletons born in the first week of March to parents in non-manual or farming occupations and a 25% sample of those born to manual workers. By 1972, 867 had emigrated or died. Of the remainder, 3958 (88%) were still under surveillance.In order to select two distinct groups for this study, the 'breast-fed' group was defined as those survey members who had been exclusively breast-fed for the first five months of life. The 'bottle-fed' group had not been breast-fed at all during the first five months.For reasons of convenience, the study sample was restricted further to survey members living in Greater London and adjacent areas and to Bristol.In all, 238 individuals fulfilled both the feeding and residential requirements and could be contacted in 1977. These 238 individuals were invited to participate in a special medical examination and 172 were examined, a response of 72%. Of these, 155 were resident in and around Greater London and 17 in Bristol.All examinations were conducted in the survey members' homes by one of two examiners. The examination included a questionnaire, height,

Associations of anthropometric characteristics with blood cholesterol fractions among adults. The Greek EPIC study

“…In a possibly relevant analogy, it has been reported that postnatal cholesterol intake affects blood cholesterol homeostasis in later life. Specifically, a relatively high cholesterol intake during the immediate postnatal period has been associated with more effective catabolism of the compound in adult life and lower blood cholesterol levels (Marmot et al, 1980;Innis, 1985;Kolacek et al, 1993;Cruz et al, 1994;Bergstrom et al, 1995). Thus, we can speculate that growth in childhood, adolescence and early adulthood may somehow affect the setting of parameters of cholesterol metabolism throughout life, for example, by means of longitudinal 'tracking' of high or low levels of growth hormone that is inversely associated with blood cholesterol (Abdu et al, 2001;Cianfarani et al, 2002;Takada et al, 2003).…”

Treatment of young rats with cholestyramine or a hypercholesterolemic diet does not influence the response of serum cholesterol to dietary cholesterol in later life

“…Studies that addressed this question have not led to conclusive results. In some studies various milks and formulas fed during the 1st year of life did affect later serum cholesterol levels [3,4], but this was not found in other studies [5,6].…”

Effects of Early Cholesterol Intake on Cholesterol Biosynthesis and Plasma Lipids Among Infants Until 18 Months of Age

“…Assessment at 18 months of age may be too early to see an effect, because differences in plasma lipid profiles between subjects breastfed or formula fed as infants generally have not been seen until Ͼ17 years of age. 2,3,[24][25][26][27] The function of the higher cholesterol content in HM has been the subject of debate for several decades, especially because infant formula composition has stood in stark contrast in this regard. The advancement of knowledge in this area has been encumbered by the difficulty of separating the metabolic effects of dietary cholesterol from those of dietary fatty acids, because HM differs from most formulas in this domain as well.…”

“…11,[20][21][22][23][24] In most adult studies, both total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels were lower among adults who had been breastfed as infants. 2,3,[25][26][27] Arising out of the aforementioned observations are numerous speculations concerning the mechanisms through which neonatal dietary cholesterol may be responsible for long-lasting perturbations of cholesterol metabolism. [28][29][30][31][32][33] It has been hypothesized that differences in plasma lipid concentrations in infancy and adulthood might be accounted for in part by changes in endogenous cholesterol fractional synthesis rates (FSRs), modulated by the quantity of dietary cholesterol.…”