The effect of gluten-free diet supplemented with Humana-MCT on the level of lipid fractions in blood serum of infants with coeliac disease.

The concentrations of free fatty acids (FFA), triglycerides (TG), free cholesterol (FC) and estrified cholesterol (EC) as well as the fatty acid composition of TG and EC fractions have been determined in blood serum of 16 infants with coeliac disease. The determinations were carried out three times: after admission and diagnosis but before the initiation of any treatment, after two and after four weeks of a glutene-free diet supplemented with Humana-MCT formula. Before treatment all the infants had weight deficite between 20% and 40%. After two weeks of diet treatment, the concentrations of blood serum FFA and TG decreased as compared to those before the treatment. The highest values of EC were found during the third determination. The composition of fatty acids in TG and EC fractions did not change appreciably in the consecutive determinations. The absence of medium chain-length fatty acids in the studied lipid fractions despite steady supply in the diet suggests efficient metabolization of these acids in the liver. A considerable deficite of linoleic acid appearing in the infants studied before the treatment was not fully compensated during the four weeks of diet treatment.