Phospholipid Species in Newborn and 4 Month Old Infants after Consumption of Different Formulas or Breast Milk

Abstract

IntroductionArachidonic acid (AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are important long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids for neuronal and cognitive development and are ingredients of infant formulae that are recommended but there is no evidence based minimal supplementation level available. The aim of this analysis was to investigate the effect of supplemented AA and DHA on phospholipid metabolism.MethodsPlasma samples of a randomized, double-blind infant feeding trial were used for the analyses of phospholipid species by flow-injection mass spectrometry. Healthy term infants consumed isoenergetic formulae (intervention formula with equal amounts of AA and DHA—IF, control formula without additional AA and DHA—CF) from the first month of life until the age of 120 days. A group of breast milk (BM) -fed infants was followed as a reference.ResultsThe plasma profile detected in newborns was different from 4 month old infants, irrespective of study group. Most relevant changes were seen in higher level of LPC16:1, LPC20:4, PC32:1, PC34:1 and PC36:4 and lower level of LPC18:0, LPC18:2, PC32:2, PC36:2 and several ether-linked phosphatidylcholines in newborns. The sum of all AA and DHA species at 4 month old infants in the CF group showed level of 40% (AA) and 51% (DHA) of newborns. The supplemented amount of DHA resulted in phospholipid level comparable to BM infants, but AA phospholipids were lower than in BM infants. Interestingly, relative contribution of DHA was higher in ether-linked phosphatidylcholines in CF fed infants, but IF and BM fed infants showed higher overall ether-linked phosphatidylcholines levels.ConclusionIn conclusion, we have shown that infant plasma phospholipid profile changes remarkably from newborn over time and is dependent on the dietary fatty acid composition. A supplementation of an infant formula with AA and DHA resulted in increased related phospholipid species.

Early Programming of Obesity Throughout the Life Course: A Metabolomics Perspective

“…The supplemented DHA and arachidonic acid resulted in increased related phospholipids. The concentrations of phospholipid species with DHA in the study group were similar to those of breastfed infants, but phospholipids with arachidonic acid were lower than breast fed infants [40] .…”

“…A recent study compared the effects of a standard cows' milk-based formula with vegetable oils to a formula based on goats' milk protein and part of formula lipids derived from goat dairy lipids on the infants' growth and metabolism. Although there were some differences in the children's glycerophospholipid profile at 4 months of age between those fed with conventional IF and goat-milk-based formula [40] , there were no differences in Z-scores for weight, length, head circumference, or weight for length between the 2 groups [44] .…”

“…The effect of n-3 LC-PUFA concentration during pregnancy, lactation, and in formula milk on infant and child body composition was reviewed previously [40][41][42][43] . In general, the results were controversial, with positive, negative, or neutral effects of maternal n-3 LC-PUFA status on child body composition, and no conclusion could be made.…”

“…PC with fatty acids bound by an ether bond (PCae) are decreased in obese children [52,54] . PCae has been linked to PUFA intake in infancy [40] and may be beneficial for membrane structure, prevention of oxidative stress, and brain development [69] . In obese German children, the LPC 18: 1, 18: 2, and 20: 4 were found to be reduced [54] .…”

Metabolic Regulation of Pre- and Postnatal Growth

“…Among all the modern "omics" techniques, metabolomics is closest to the human phenotype: the degree of association to phenotype and health generally increases from genomics, to epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and finally to metabolomics. We apply high-performance liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (MS/MS), which en-ables us to quantify hundreds of molecules in small biological samples, e.g., 50 μL plasma or less [12][13][14][15][16][17][18] . The pattern of metabolites determined, which include substrates, intermediates, and products of biological processes, can provide biomarkers of exposures and outcomes, and it can allow insights into underlying metabolic mechanisms.…”