RESUMEN
Long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid composition of plasma choline phosphoglycerides has been measured at birth in 22 preterm infants. Positive correlations were found between both n-6 and n-3 fatty acids and measurements of growth and maturation. 20:4(n-6) and the sum of 20:3(n-6) + 20:4(n-6) correlated most strongly with weight and head circumference, while 22:6(n-3) showed strongest correlation with length of gestation. These findings are of relevance to understanding the role of nutrition in fetal growth and in establishing the group of infants most at risk of postnatal deficiency of essential fatty acids.
Asunto(s)
Desarrollo Embrionario y Fetal , Ácidos Grasos Insaturados/sangre , Recien Nacido Prematuro/sangre , Fosfatidilcolinas/sangre , Antropometría , Peso al Nacer , Ácidos Grasos Insaturados/clasificación , Edad Gestacional , Cabeza/anatomía & histología , Humanos , Recién NacidoRESUMEN
Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA) composition of choline phosphoglycerides was measured in the plasma of 22 preterm infants at birth and at expected date of delivery (EDD). In a subgroup of 10 infants, data were also collected at regular intervals between birth and EDD. Levels at birth showed a positive correlation between arachidonic acid (AA) and birth weight, p less than 0.01, and between docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and gestational age, p less than 0.01. Percentage compositions of both AA and DHA fell rapidly between preterm birth and expected date of delivery, at a time when they would remain high in utero. For AA, the mean value fell from 16.52 to 7.18%, and for DHA from 4.49 to 2.63%. Levels of DHA fell less in babies fed breast milk than in those fed formula milk, p less than 0.05, and levels of AA fell less in those requiring a large number of blood transfusions, p less than 0.05. The level of DHA fell more in those infants with intrauterine growth retardation, p less than 0.05. Although these nutrients share common metabolic pathways for their synthesis, they appear to be affected by different factors in both the fetus and the preterm infant. Low levels at this time may adversely affect brain and retinal development.
Asunto(s)
Ácidos Grasos Insaturados/metabolismo , Recien Nacido Prematuro/metabolismo , Fosfatidilcolinas/metabolismo , Factores de Edad , Animales , Ácido Araquidónico/análisis , Peso al Nacer , Transfusión Sanguínea , Dieta , Ácidos Docosahexaenoicos/análisis , Edad Gestacional , Humanos , Recién Nacido , Recién Nacido Pequeño para la Edad Gestacional/metabolismo , Ácido Linoleico , Ácidos Linoleicos/análisis , Leche , Leche Humana , Fosfatidilcolinas/sangre , Análisis de RegresiónAsunto(s)
Peso al Nacer , Encéfalo/embriología , Ácidos Grasos Esenciales/análisis , Retardo del Crecimiento Fetal/diagnóstico , Recién Nacido de Bajo Peso , Arterias Umbilicales/química , Adulto , Ácidos Grasos/análisis , Ácidos Grasos Esenciales/fisiología , Femenino , Humanos , Recién Nacido , Músculo Liso Vascular/química , Fosfatidilcolinas/aislamiento & purificación , Fosfatidiletanolaminas/aislamiento & purificación , EmbarazoRESUMEN
1. Cockerels (1-d-old) received over a period of 4 weeks, a balanced diet containing either safflower oil (diet S) or linseed oil (diet L) as a source of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Body-weight, and weights of cerebrum and cerebellum increased at similar rates in the two dietary groups. The total fatty acids (FA) of the cerebellum differed from the cerebral FA by their higher PUFA and oleic acid contents and their lower stearic acid level. During the 3rd week of life there was a spurt in accretion of PUFA in the cerebellum, but not in the cerebrum. At the end of the experimental period phosphatidylethanolamine was present at twice the concentration in the cerebellum, compared with the cerebrum. 2. Diets S and L resulted in extensive mutual replacement of omega 6- and omega 3-FA in brain, without any significant change in the total PUFA. Brain oleic acid concentration was higher in the diet-L group than in the diet-S group, but saturated FA were not affected by the dietary treatments. 3. These results may be relevant to basic brain biology and to chick nutritional encephalomalacia (NE). This disease, which specifically affects the cerebellum and is readily induced by diets supplying linoleic acid but deficient in vitamin E, usually reaches its highest incidence during the 3rd week of life and may thus be related to the cerebellar PUFA spurt that occurs at that time. The fact that NE was induced by linoleic acid, while alpha-linolenic acid exerted a protective action, points to an overproduction of arachidonic-derived eicosanoids as a factor in the etiology of the cerebellar lesion and possibly a structural change due to a loss of docosahexaenoic acid and gain of arachidonic acid in the chicks given diet S.