title: Plasma and red blood cell fatty acids of low-birth-weight infants fed their mother's expressed breast milk or preterm-infant formula.
abstract: The fatty acid composition of plasma phospholipids, red blood cell (RBC) phosphatidylcholine (PC), and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) was determined for low-birth-weight (LBW) infants when full oral feeding commenced (day 0) and after a further 28 d (day 28). They were fed their mother's expressed breast milk (PTM, n = 9), formula (SCF, n = 16) with 2% 18:3n-3 fatty acids, 20% 18:2n-6 fatty acids, or a combination of SCF and PTM (n = 11). Concentrations of all 20- and 22-carbon n-6 and n-3 fatty acids were similar among the infant groups on days 0 and 28 (mean postnatal age 42 +/- 1.3 d). The results suggest that formula with greater than or equal to 2% 18:3n-3 and a ratio of 18:2n-6 to 18:3n-3 similar to that of human milk may permit incorporation of n-3 fatty acids in LBW infant tissues equivalent to that from human milk.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Innis
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Foote
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: MacKinnon
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: King
mesh_terms: D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000032:analysis*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D005526:Food, Formulated / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food / Q000032:analysis*; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000032:analysis*; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D010743:Phospholipids