Factors affecting human colostrum fatty acid profile: A case study

PLoS One. 2017 Apr 14;12(4):e0175817. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0175817. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

The role of maternal colostrum to infant development has been extensively studied and presented. Among the main factors which contribute to breast milk composition are maternal diet, age and body mass index, parity, duration of pregnancy and stage of lactation. This study aims to investigate the potential impact of several factors including demographic (i.e. maternal age and nationality) on the colostrum fatty acid profile. Colostrum was collected the third day postpartum in a Greek maternity hospital. Certain lipid quality indices and fatty acid ratios were estimated and results were statistically processed. The main identified fatty acids were palmitic (C16:0), oleic (C18:1ω-9), and linoleic (C18:2ω-6) acids. Among fatty acids, saturated fatty acids predominated (47.61%), followed by monounsaturated fatty acids (39.26%), while polyunsaturated fatty acids had the lowest proportion (13.13%). Values of lipid quality indices were within the reported in the literature ranges. Maternal body mass index, nationality, age, mode of delivery, gender and fetal weight percentile were studied in respect to their potential influence on the fatty acid profile of colostrum fat. Results suggest that colostrum fatty acid profile was mainly dependent on maternal nationality and age rather than mode of delivery and maternal BMI. Regarding the effect of maternal nationality, significant differences were found for saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. Of the most interesting findings is that colostrum fat from older (≥35 years) mothers had less saturated fat and more appropriate LQIs values. Finally, a reversed correlation was observed between the customized centile of the infants and the colostrum fat content.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Body Mass Index
  • Chromatography, Gas
  • Colostrum / chemistry
  • Colostrum / metabolism*
  • Fatty Acids / analysis*
  • Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated / analysis
  • Female
  • Gestational Age
  • Humans
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Linoleic Acid / analysis
  • Male
  • Oleic Acid / analysis
  • Palmitic Acid / analysis
  • Pregnancy
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Fatty Acids
  • Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated
  • Oleic Acid
  • Palmitic Acid
  • Linoleic Acid

Grants and funding

This research was funded from the Internal Programme for Supporting Researchers of TEI Athens (Code 80252, Research Committee ΤΕΙ Α 2015). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.