Should Women Providing Milk to Their Preterm Infants Take Docosahexaenoic Acid Supplements?
Based on the available data, a high milk docosahexaenoic acid supply to very low-birth-weight infants and to extremely low-birth-weight infants at levels that support tissue accretion rates similar to the high rates of intrauterine deposition has the potential to enhance the early visual and cognitive development, and to reduce the occurrence of adverse events, such as severe developmental delay, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, necrotizing enterocolitis, and allergic manifestations in infancy and early childhood. Possibly subgroups of preterm infants achieve greater benefits as well as infants with genotypes predicting a low rate of endogenous long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids formation.
Division of Metabolism and Nutritional Medicine, Dr. von Hauner Children's Hospital, University of Munich Medical Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, Campus Innenstadt Lindwurmstrasse 4, D-80337 Munich, Germany. Electronic address: office.koletzko@med.lmu.de.
Berthold
B
Koletzko
D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding; D061186:Breast Milk Expression; D001997:Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002657:Child Development; D003071:Cognition; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000453:epidemiology; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D020345:Enterocolitis, Necrotizing / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000453:epidemiology; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry*; D065840:Protective Factors; D014785:Vision, Ocular
D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids
Arachidonic acid; Docosahexaenoic acid; Eicosapentaenoic acid; Polyunsaturated fatty acids; Very low-birth-weight infants