Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Nutritional Physiology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Institute for Medical Biometry, Informatics and Epidemiology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Ann Nutr Metab. 2021;77(3):138-145. doi: 10.1159/000515705. Epub 2021 Apr 30.
Recently, new commercial infant formulas have been composed considering novel fat blends and oligosaccharides to better resemble the fatty acid (FA) composition and stereospecific distribution (e.g., increased amount of ß-palmitate) as well as probiotics content of human breast milk. We hypothesized that these newly composed infant formulas may decrease fecal FA soap excretion and may positively affect erythrocyte FA profiles compared with regular formulas.
Healthy infants were randomly assigned to receive a high-sn-2-palmitate formula (>25% of the PA is esterified to the sn-2 position of the glycerol backbone, verum: n = 30) or a "standard" formula containing <10% of PA in sn-2 position and no oligosaccharides (control: n = 27); a non-randomized group of breast-fed infants served as control. Anthropometric data of the infants (body weight, recumbent length, and head circumference) were recorded at inclusion (visit 1) and 6 and 12 weeks after onset of intervention (visits 2 and 3). Blood samples for erythrocyte FA analysis (gas chromatography) were taken at visits 1 and 2; stool samples were collected at visit 2.
Quantitative formula intake (mL/kg body weight × day) at visit 2 (verum: 155 ± 30, control: 164 ± 30) and visit 3 (verum: 134 ± 26, control: 134 ± 21) was comparable. Six weeks after onset of intervention, stool total FA soaps, palmitate soaps, and total FAs were similar in both formula-fed groups but significantly higher than in breast-fed infants. During the 6-week intervention, erythrocyte palmitate decreased significantly from baseline in all 3 groups with no group differences (verum: 29.20 ± 1.17 to 27.12 ± 0.66, control: 29.88 ± 2.00 to 27.01 ± 0.94, breast-fed: 30.20 ± 0.86 to 26.84 ± 0.98). For selected FAs, significant changes over time in verum and control group were obvious but without formula effects. Some variations in the FA profile of breast-fed infants compared to both verum and control groups were observed.
In contrast to our hypothesis, feeding a newly composed infant formula based on a fat blend with 25% of PA in the sn-2 position of triacylglycerols and supplemented with a prebiotic could not decrease insoluble FA soap excretion compared with a standard product; in this respect, breastfeeding is obviously the best choice. Surprisingly, erythrocyte FA profiles were comparable in formula-fed and breast-fed infants; obvious alterations in FA composition of the respective fat sources and structure did not affect FA incorporation into membranes. Caution should be, however, exercised in drawing robust conclusions in the absence of larger, adequately powered intervention studies.
最近，新的商业婴儿配方奶粉已经通过考虑新型脂肪混合物和低聚糖来组成，以更好地模仿人乳的脂肪酸（FA）组成和立体特异性分布（例如，增加β-棕榈酸的含量）以及益生菌含量。我们假设与常规配方相比，这些新组成的婴儿配方可能会减少粪便 FA 皂的排泄，并可能对红细胞 FA 谱产生积极影响。
健康婴儿被随机分配接受高 sn-2-棕榈酸配方（>25％的 PA 酯化到甘油主链的 sn-2 位置，实验组：n = 30）或含有<10％PA 在 sn-2 位置且不含低聚糖的“标准”配方（对照组：n = 27）；一组未随机分组的母乳喂养婴儿作为对照组。婴儿的人体测量数据（体重、仰卧长度和头围）在纳入（第 1 次就诊）和干预开始后 6 周和 12 周（第 2 次和第 3 次就诊）时记录。第 1 次就诊和第 2 次就诊时采集红细胞 FA 分析（气相色谱法）的血样；在第 2 次就诊时收集粪便样本。
第 2 次就诊时（实验组：155 ± 30，对照组：164 ± 30）和第 3 次就诊时（实验组：134 ± 26，对照组：134 ± 21）的定量配方摄入量（毫升/公斤体重×天）相当。干预开始后 6 周，两组配方喂养婴儿的粪便总 FA 皂、棕榈酸皂和总 FA 均相似，但明显高于母乳喂养婴儿。在 6 周的干预期间，所有 3 组的红细胞棕榈酸均明显从基线下降，但无组间差异（实验组：29.20 ± 1.17 至 27.12 ± 0.66，对照组：29.88 ± 2.00 至 27.01 ± 0.94，母乳喂养：30.20 ± 0.86 至 26.84 ± 0.98）。对于选定的 FA，实验组和对照组的时间变化明显，但没有配方效应。与实验组和对照组相比，母乳喂养婴儿的 FA 谱存在一些差异。
与我们的假设相反，与标准产品相比，喂养基于脂肪混合物的新型婴儿配方，其中 25％的 PA 在甘油三酯的 sn-2 位置，并用益生元补充，不能减少不溶性 FA 皂的排泄；在这方面，母乳喂养显然是最佳选择。令人惊讶的是，配方喂养和母乳喂养婴儿的红细胞 FA 谱相似；各自脂肪来源和结构的 FA 组成的明显变化并未影响 FA 掺入膜中。然而，在没有更大、足够强大的干预研究的情况下，应谨慎得出有力的结论。
