Innis S M
Department of Paediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
Dev Neurosci. 2000 Sep-Dec;22(5-6):474-80. doi: 10.1159/000017478.
The dietary requirements for essential fatty acids and the possibility of a specific role for the polyunsaturated fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is one of the most controversial areas in infant nutrition. DHA is found in unusually high concentrations in the brain and is selectively accumulated during fetal and infant brain growth. DHA can be synthesised through a complex series of chain elongation-desaturation reactions from alpha-linolenic acid, but the efficiency of this process in young infants is not clear. Clinical studies on the potential benefits to neural development of dietary DHA have yielded conflicting results. Recent studies have provided evidence that plasma DHA is available to developing brain and that DHA is involved in dopamine and serotonin metabolism. These findings should guide clinical studies to more sensitive measures of the functional roles of dietary n-3 fatty acids and to clinical conditions where n-3 fatty acids may have benefit.
必需脂肪酸的膳食需求以及多不饱和脂肪酸二十二碳六烯酸（DHA）可能具有的特定作用，是婴儿营养领域中最具争议的问题之一。DHA在大脑中的浓度异常高，并且在胎儿和婴儿大脑发育期间会被选择性积累。DHA可以通过一系列复杂的链延长-去饱和反应由α-亚麻酸合成，但该过程在幼儿中的效率尚不清楚。关于膳食DHA对神经发育潜在益处的临床研究结果相互矛盾。最近的研究提供了证据，表明发育中的大脑可利用血浆中的DHA，并且DHA参与多巴胺和血清素代谢。这些发现应指导临床研究采用更敏感的方法来衡量膳食n-3脂肪酸的功能作用，并针对n-3脂肪酸可能有益的临床情况进行研究。
