The effects of two extremes of dietary intake on protein accretion in preterm infants.
A comparison has been made of protein accretion and growth in premature infants fed banked drip breast milk (BBM) or a preterm formula (PF). Protein accretion was calculated from the difference between dietary nitrogen intake and output in urine and stools, measured in a nutrient balance study. As expected, only the infants fed PF achieved the intrauterine growth rate. However, whilst weight gain in infants fed BBM was 71% of that in the group fed PF, the rate of protein deposition was less than 50%. As a result, the protein concentration in new tissue of infants fed BBM averaged 32% less than in those fed PF and 21% less than the lower end of the range reported to occur in utero. We speculate that infants fed BBM have an abnormally low protein concentration in their lean body mass.
D006128:Growth; D006801:Humans; D007225:Infant Food; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008895:Milk, Human; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
D011506:Proteins; D009584:Nitrogen