Vitamin E status of low birthweight infants fed formula enriched with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids.

It is recommended in Europe that low birthweight infants (LBWI) who do not receive human milk (HM) should be fed formula enriched with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCP). The question has been raised whether LCP supplementation to LBWI formula may have adverse effects on antioxidant status in the recipient infant, particularly on the major lipid-soluble antioxidant vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol, alpha-toc.). We studied alpha-toc. status in LBWI fed HM (n = 15) or formula either without (f, n = 8) or with LCP derived from egg lipids and fish oil (LCP-F, n = 9) on days 4 and 21 of life. Plasma alpha-toc. concentrations increased significantly in infants fed HM [d. 4: 4.53 (1.31), d. 21: 6.35 (2.18), mg/l, mean (SD), p < 0.01], whereas there were no changes in infants fed F of LCP-F. Plasma alpha-toc./total lipid ratios and erythrocyte membrane alpha-toc. concentrations did not change significantly between days 4 and 21 in either group. In contrast, erythrocyte membrane alpha-toc./total lipid ratios decreased significantly in infants fed LCP-F [0.42 (0.13) vs. 0.31 (0.06), p < 0.05], whereas no change occurred in the other two groups. We conclude that an LCP supplementation based on egg lipids and fish oil to formula may induce an early postnatal decrease of alpha-toc./total lipid ratios in erythrocyte membranes of LBWI. Therefore, the effects of different forms of LCP supplementation to infant formula on infantile vitamin E status should be carefully evaluated.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes