Quantification of Nervonic Acid in Human Milk in the First 30 Days of Lactation: Influence of Lactation Stages and Comparison with Infant Formulae

Abstract

Nervonic acid (24:1 n-9, NA) plays a crucial role in the development of white matter, and it occurs naturally in human milk. This study aims to quantify NA in human milk at different lactation stages and compare it with the NA measured in infant formulae. With this information, optimal nutritional interventions for infants, especially newborns, can be determined. In this study, an absolute detection method that uses experimentally derived standard curves and methyl tricosanoate as the internal standard was developed to quantitively analyze NA concentration. The method was applied to the analysis of 224 human milk samples, which were collected over a period of 3–30 days postpartum from eight healthy Chinese mothers. The results show that the NA concentration was highest in colostrum (0.76 ± 0.23 mg/g fat) and significantly decreased (p < 0.001) in mature milk (0.20 ± 0.03 mg/g fat). During the first 10 days of lactation, the change in NA concentration was the most pronounced, decreasing by about 65%. Next, the NA contents in 181 commercial infant formulae from the Chinese market were compared. The NA content in most formulae was <16% of that found in colostrum and less than that found in mature human milk (p < 0.05). No significant difference (p > 0.05) was observed among NA content in formulae with different fat sources. Special attention was given to the variety of n-9 fatty acids in human milk during lactation, and the results indicated that interindividual variation in NA content may be primarily due to endogenous factors, with less influence from the maternal diet.

A Review of Nervonic Acid Production in Plants: Prospects for the Genetic Engineering of High Nervonic Acid Cultivars Plants

“…NA plays a vital role in developing and maintaining the brain and biosynthesizing and improving nerve cells. NA is a natural component of maternal milk and can promote infant growth by assisting nervous system development ( Farquharson et al, 1996 ; Ntoumani et al, 2013 ; Yu et al, 2019 ). Decreased NA levels are closely associated with a high risk of developing psychotic disorders in individuals ( Coupland and Raoul, 2001 ; Amminger et al, 2012 ; Vozella et al, 2017 ), and supplementation with NA is an established effective treatment for symptoms of several neurological diseases, such as demyelinating disorders ( Sargent et al, 1994 ; Vozella et al, 2017 ; Lewkowicz et al, 2019 ).…”

Protective Effect of Nervonic Acid Against 6-Hydroxydopamine-Induced Oxidative Stress in PC-12 Cells

“…Newborn infants obtain NA from breast milk. The NA concentration in human breast milk markedly decreases as lactation stages progress; its concentration in colostrum has been found to range from two-to six-fold higher than the concentration in mature milk 22 . A low level of NA is present in infant formula; therefore, it has been suggested that the content of NA in infant formula for newborns or premature infants should be increased 22 24 .…”

Medium- and long-chain triacylglycerols and di-unsaturated fatty acyl-palmitoyl-glycerols in Chinese human milk: Association with region during the lactation

“…The vast territory of China leads to an abundant diet, which could influence the lipids in human milk. However, previous studies researched the influence of the lactation stage and regional diversity on the fatty acid composition, and rare studies reported the relationship to TAG composition (12,13).…”