Kokotou Maroula G
Laboratory of Chemistry, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, 11855 Athens, Greece.
Biomolecules. 2024 Dec 14;14(12):1602. doi: 10.3390/biom14121602.
Breast milk is a rich source of fatty acids (FAs) while being irreplaceable for the health and development of an infant. Herein, we present a fast and simple method for the direct detection and quantification of 37 free FAs (FFAs) in breast milk samples, avoiding any derivatization step, and a study on the % variation of FA contents in samples collected from the same mother within five consecutive days. The average breakdown of FAs was 60.5% saturated and 39.5% unsaturated, in which polyunsaturated FAs were 13.3% and monounsaturated FAs 26.2%. The most abundant FFA in the breast milk samples was C12:0 (18.3%), followed by C10:0 (15.0%), suggesting that further attention must be paid to the presence and role of medium-chain FAs. Among unsaturated FAs, oleic acid (C18:1 n-9) (13.3%) and linoleic acid (C18:2 n-6) (10.1%) were the most abundant. Remarkable variations of FFA contents within the five consecutive days were observed for C8:0, C10:0, C12:0, C18:1 n-9, and C18:2 n-6. The two isomers α-linolenic acid (C18:3 n-3) and γ-linolenic acid (C18:3 n-6) were quantified in all breast milk samples. The ratio of γ-linolenic acid, which most recently is important for cardiac metabolic maturation, to α-linolenic acid was found to be 1:2. Most importantly, in the present study, we explored the presence of bioactive saturated monohydroxy fatty acids (SHFAs), demonstrating for the first time the existence of distinct hydroxypalmitic and hydroxystearic acids (HPAs and HSAs, respectively) in breast milk.
母乳是脂肪酸（FAs）的丰富来源，对婴儿的健康和发育至关重要且无可替代。在此，我们介绍一种快速简便的方法，用于直接检测和定量母乳样本中的37种游离脂肪酸（FFAs），无需任何衍生步骤，同时还对同一母亲连续五天采集的样本中脂肪酸含量的百分比变化进行了研究。脂肪酸的平均组成是60.5%为饱和脂肪酸，39.5%为不饱和脂肪酸，其中多不饱和脂肪酸占13.3%，单不饱和脂肪酸占26.2%。母乳样本中最丰富的游离脂肪酸是C12:0（18.3%），其次是C10:0（15.0%），这表明必须进一步关注中链脂肪酸的存在和作用。在不饱和脂肪酸中，油酸（C18:1 n-9）（13.3%）和亚油酸（C18:2 n-6）（10.1%）最为丰富。在连续五天内，观察到C8:0、C10:0、C12:0、C18:1 n-9和C18:2 n-6的游离脂肪酸含量有显著变化。在所有母乳样本中均对两种异构体α-亚麻酸（C18:3 n-3）和γ-亚麻酸（C18:3 n-6）进行了定量。发现最近对心脏代谢成熟很重要的γ-亚麻酸与α-亚麻酸的比例为1:2。最重要的是，在本研究中，我们探索了生物活性饱和单羟基脂肪酸（SHFAs）的存在，首次证明母乳中存在不同的羟基棕榈酸和羟基硬脂酸（分别为HPAs和HSAs）。
