Minimal enteral feeding within 3 d of birth in prematurely born infants with birth weight ≤1200 g improves bone mass by term age

Abstract

Early aggressive nutrition support with MEF enhances BMC in premature infants, but early MEF or AAs do not improve growth.

Parenteral amino acid intakes: possible influences of higher intakes on growth and bone status in preterm infants

“…This is an interesting result as studies on total parenteral nutrition and bone growth had been reported 35 but, to our knowledge, no studies on protein intakes and bone status have yet been published. Weiler et al 36 showed that in preterm infants, early aggressive nutrition support with minimal enteral feeding enhances bone mineral content, although they did not find specific correlations with AA or total energy intakes. Our findings confirm that a balanced supply of energy and proteins, alongside with calcium, phosphorus and vitamins, is a necessary prerequisite for normal bone development as mineralization occurs when minerals are incorporated into organic bone matrix after its synthesis and deposition by osteoblasts.…”

Australasian neonatal intensive care enteral nutrition survey: Implications for practice

“…Maturation of the gastrointestinal tract can be accelerated by early or trophic feeding . Even giving small volumes of enteral feeds has advantages over total intravenous nutrition for the promotion of intestinal motility, maintenance of intestinal barriers, the development of beneficial micro‐flora, reduced sepsis and improved bone mass at term 15–20…”

Normative Data for Bone Mass in Healthy Term Infants from Birth to 1 Year of Age

“…Although DXA cannot distinguish between cortical and trabecular bone mass, the content of cortical bone is higher in the femur than in the spine. Interestingly, Weiler et al [25] found premature infants born with very low birth weight (≤1200 g) who were supplemented with early minimal enteral feeds had higher elevations in femur bone mass (36%) compared to spine bone mass (16%). In these infants [25], femur responded to a greater extent than spine and may prove valuable in assessing response to treatment.…”

“…Interestingly, Weiler et al [25] found premature infants born with very low birth weight (≤1200 g) who were supplemented with early minimal enteral feeds had higher elevations in femur bone mass (36%) compared to spine bone mass (16%). In these infants [25], femur responded to a greater extent than spine and may prove valuable in assessing response to treatment. In addition, Lu et al [26] observed that vBMD of the femur and not the lumbar spine was less dependent on growth variables in their study with children and young adults.…”