Breast milk and erythrocyte fatty acid composition of lactating women residing in a peri‑urban South African township

Pilot study of the effect of EPA + DHA supplementation on the fatty acid profile of erythrocytes and breast milk of lactating women from Sonsón, Colombia

“…The concentration of DHA-20:6 n -3 in erythrocytes increased significantly between the two measurements. At baseline, the concentration was similar to that mentioned in studies from South Africa (3.8%) and Chile (3.96%) ( Barrera et al, 2018 ; Siziba et al, 2020 ). In studies monitoring the concentration of fatty acids in the erythrocytes and plasma of lactating women who were not taking supplements, a decreasing trend in the DHA-20:6 n-3 concentration was observed ( Luxwolda et al, 2014 ; Jackson and Harris, 2016 ).…”

“…The EPA-20:5 n -3 levels in the erythrocytes of the women in our study were minimal at the beginning of the study period, but after supplementation, they increased to an average concentration of 0.3679%. These values approached those reported in studies conducted in South Africa and Brazil, where the average concentrations of this fatty acid in women within the first two months of breastfeeding, without supplementation, were 0.4% and 0.33%, respectively ( Siziba et al, 2020 ; Torres and Trugo, 2009 ), but they remain very far from the values reported in countries such as Chile, where the average is 1.03% ( Barrera et al, 2018 ). Although the change between measurements was not significant in this study, EPA-20:5 n-3 did show a slight increase, which is important because it is a precursor of DHA-20:6 n-3 and ensures that this fatty acid can continue to be generated.…”

“…Breast milk fatty acids can be obtained via mobilization of maternal reserves, mainly adipose tissue; from the endogenous synthesis in the liver and breast tissue; and from dietary sources ( Luxwolda et al, 2014 ; Siziba et al, 2020 ; Amaral et al, 2017 ). Our study found that the fatty acids with the highest concentrations in milk were palmitic acid-16:0, oleic acid-18:1 n -9 and linoleic acid-18:2 n -6, which is consistent with studies of Spanish ( Sánchez-Hernández et al, 2019 ), Greek ( Antonakou et al, 2013 ) and Chilean ( Barrera et al, 2018 ) women.…”

Human milk fatty acid composition and its association with maternal blood and adipose tissue fatty acid content in a cohort of women from Europe

“…The FA profile of erythrocytes is a combined picture of interactions between dietary intake and stored FAs attributed to long half-life of erythrocytes (120 days) [ 55 , 56 ]. Erythrocytes FA profile is generally considered to represent long-term (few weeks to few months) FA intakes, while plasma FA profile reflects short-term FA intake [ 19 , 57 ].…”

“…Foremilk and hindmilk are known to differ in lipid concentration [ 18 , 19 ] and PUFA concentration [ 20 ] but only few data on the composition of HM FA on full expressed breast milk are available, i.e., from women living in Asia [ 21 , 22 ].…”