Relationship between bone mineralization and aluminium in the healthy infant

Abstract

Objective: This prospective study was designed to assess the relationship between variations of serum Aluminium levels and bone mineralization, which is one of its target tissues, in healthy premature (PT) and fullterm (FT) infants. Study design: Lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD) and content (BMC) studied by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry were compared to serum aluminium (S-Al), Ca (S-Ca), P (S-P), osteocalcin, alkaline phosphatase activity (S-AP), and 25 OH Vitamin D (25 OH D) by simple and multiple regressions in healthy PT (n 44) following their hospital discharge and FT (n 82). PT (gestational age at birth (mean AE 1 s.d.) 32 AE 2 weeks) and FT were 43AE 39 and 36 AE 32 weeks old respectively. Results: In PT multiple stepwise regression analysis including gestational age at birth, postconceptional age and postnatal age displayed only a signi®cant correlation between BMD or BMC and postnatal age and a negative one with S-Al. In FT correlations were found between BMD or BMC and age and S-Ca. Conclusions: In PT, variations in blood Al are associated with developmental delays. Care should be taken to lessen Al levels, even in healthy PT babies. Descriptors: bone mineral density; bone mineral content; aluminium; preterm infants; fullterm infants

There is (still) too much aluminium in infant formulas

“…While it is the case that the present levels of aluminium in infant formulas have not been shown to cause adverse effects in healthy infants it is also the case that there have not been any clinical studies which refute such as a possibility. Previous research has highlighted the potential toxicity of aluminium in infants with confounding disorders (including, prematurity, poor renal function and gastrointestinal disease) and fed infant formulas [10-13] and these studies when viewed alongside aluminium's known connections with medicine and human disease [22] should at least deter complacency concerning this issue. It is widely accepted that the not fully developed physiologies of infant's gastrointestinal tract, kidneys and blood-brain barrier may predispose them to aluminium toxicity [10,11,16,23,24] and while there are no definitive links between aluminium exposure through infant formulas and immediate or delayed toxicity in healthy infants this neither should not nor does not preclude such as a possibility.…”

“…There has been a long and significant history documenting the contamination of infant formulas by aluminium [3-9] and consequent health effects in children [10-13]. Through these and other publications manufacturers of infant formulas have been made fully aware of the potentially compounded issue of both the contamination by aluminium and the heightened vulnerability, from the point of view of a newborn's developing physiology, of infants fed such formulas.…”

Dietary reference values for vitamin D

“…For infants, Cranney et al. () reported on the inconsistent results of two RCTs with vitamin D 2 supplementation examining serum 25(OH)D concentrations and BMC (Greer et al., ; Greer and Marshall, ), and on the inconsistent results of three case–control studies (Bougle et al., ; Namgung et al., ; Park et al., ) examining serum 25(OH)D concentrations and BMD and/or BMC . Chung et al.…”

Building healthy bones throughout life: an evidence‐informed strategy to prevent osteoporosis in Australia

“…An observational study in term infants found 25(OH)D levels were positively correlated with whole‐body BMC, 387 although two case–control studies in infants found 25(OH)D was not related to lumbar spine BMC and BMD 388 , 389 . Two small RCTs of vitamin D supplements (400 IU [10 µg] per day) in breastfed infants found no difference in radial BMC between groups at 6 months 390 , 391 …”