Manganese intake and serum manganese concentration of human milk-fed and formula-fed infants.

Manganese (Mn) status was determined in 24 infants exclusively fed either human milk (n = 8) or formula (n = 16) from birth to 3 months. Mn intakes were estimated from test weighings , dietary records, and direct analyses of human milk and formula via graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Mean human milk Mn concentrations significantly decreased (p less than 0.05) with the progression of lactation, from 6.6 micrograms/L during the 1st month of lactation, to 3.5 micrograms/L by the 3rd month of lactation. Infant formulas were observed to contain considerably higher levels of Mn (70.0 to 1289.0 micrograms/L) than either human milk (means = 4.9 micrograms/L) or cows' milk (means 25.2 micrograms/L). At 3 months, human milk-fed infants consumed a smaller volume of milk (689.0 ml) than formula-fed infants (894.0 ml), and also received significantly less Mn (0.42 micrograms/kg/day) than formula-fed infants (183.22 micrograms/kg/day). Mean sera Mn concentrations of infants receiving human milk or formula were similar, with mean values of 4.4 and 4.7 micrograms/L, respectively. Manganese intakes of human milk-fed infants were found to be linearly correlated (r = 0.78) with the respective serum Mn concentration at 3 months of age.