Nutrition in low-birth-weight infants. III. Lipolysis and free fatty acid elimination after intravenous administration of fat emulsion.

Triglyceride linoleic acid in a fat emulsion for intravenous administration (Intralipid) was used as a marker in an evaluation of fat metabolism in newborn low-birth-weight (LBW) infants. Qualitative data on fatty acids as well as quantification of triglycerides and free fatty acids were obtained by gas-liquid chromatography. Influences on these parameters after a single and after repeated injections of Intralipid revealed differences between low-birth-weight infants appropriate-for-date (AFD) (n=8) and those light-for-date (LFD) (n=5). The LFD exhibited in comparison with the AFD infants an impaired lipolysis of injected triglycerides and a retarded elimination from plasma of released free fatty acids. In LFD, in general, this resulted in triglyceride accumulation and low free fatty acid levels. Heparin facilitated plasma triglyceride lipolysis and free fatty acid elimination from the blood stream.