Long‐Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Lipid Peroxidation Products in Donor Human Milk in the United Kingdom: Results From the LIMIT 2‐Centre Cross‐Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Donor human milk (DHM) is used as alternative to maternal milk to feed preterm infants; however, it may provide less long-chain (LC) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and more oxidized lipids, which may be detrimental to preterm infant health and development. Levels have not been reported for DHM in the United Kingdom. Methods: DHM (n = 19) from 2 neonatal units, preterm milk from a neonatal unit (n = 10), and term milk from the community (n = 11) were analyzed for fatty acids, malondialdehyde, 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal, and hexanal. Study registration: NCT03573531. Results: DHM had significantly lower absolute LCPUFA content than term (P < .001) and significantly lower ω-3 PUFAs than preterm milk (P < .05), although relative LCPUFA composition did not differ. Exclusive DHM feeding leads to significantly lower fat (3.7 vs 6.7 g/d) and LCPUFA (docosahexaenoic acid [DHA]: 10.6 vs 16.8 mg/d; arachidonic acid [ARA]: 17.4 vs 25.2 mg/d) intake than recommended by the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, and provides 17.3% and 43.1% of the in utero accreted ARA and DHA. DHM had the highest proportion of lipid peroxidation. Conclusions: This study confirms that DHM in the United Kingdom has insufficient LCPUFAs for preterm infants. It demonstrates for the first time that DHM has the highest level of lipid peroxidation, compared with preterm or term milk. This has important implications for preterm infant nutrition, as exclusive DHM feeding might not be suitable long term and may contribute to the development of major preterm neonatal morbidities.

Lipid Peroxidation and Antioxidative Capacity Are Unaltered in Transitional Breast Milk Exposed to Light from Women Giving Birth to Preterm Infants before 32 Weeks of Gestation

“…The baseline level of MDA was somewhat higher in our study and our results on 4-HNE at baseline was comparable to that of Nessel et al [31] who compared donor human milk with term and preterm milk by measuring lipid peroxidation markers including MDA and 4-HNE. The infants included in their study were somewhat more mature (30 weeks + 6 days vs. 28 weeks + 2 days) and there was no information on the type of breast milk in relation to the time after delivery.…”

Effects of storage practices on long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and lipid peroxidation of preterm formula milk

“…There are currently no guidelines for safe intake ranges of lipid peroxidation products in preterm infants, and the levels of TBARS and HNE found in FM are lower than the levels previously reported in UK preterm breast milk and donor human milk by ourselves 13 . Other studies have similarly found higher lipid peroxidation in fresh Italian term breast milk than term FM, 22 although this observation is not universal, with lower levels in fresh Spanish and American term breast milk than in term and preterm FM, respectively 7,24 .…”

“…Fatty acids were analysed as described previously, 13 with tricosanoic acid as internal standard, using gas chromatography (7820A; Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA) and Omegawax™ 100 column (15 m × 0.1 mm × 0.5 µm; Sigma‐Aldrich, Poole, UK).…”

Evaluation of Euglena gracilis 815 as a New Candidate for Biodiesel Production

“…PUFAs are essential nutrients for the human body and will cause various diseases if they are lacking. PUFAs can thus be used as nutritional supplements in different food and beverages (Simopoulos, 2000;Nessel et al, 2020). In medicine, PUFAs serve a variety of physiological functions such as anti-inflammation and blood lipid regulation while also necessary for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and treating schizophrenia (Marion-Letellier et al, 2015).…”