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Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Levels in U.S. Donor Human Milk: Meeting the Needs of Premature Infants?
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Levels in U.S. Donor Human Milk: Meeting the Needs of Premature Infants?

Michelle L Baack, Andrew W Norris, Jianrong Yao and Tarah Colaizy
Journal of perinatology, Vol.32(8), pp.598-603
08/2012
DOI: 10.1038/jp.2011.152
PMCID: PMC3369002
PMID: 22323096
url
https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2011.152View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Objective: To determine fatty acid levels in the US donor milk supply. Study design: Donor human milk samples from Iowa (n=62), Texas (n=5), North Carolina (n=5) and California (n=5) were analyzed by gas chromatography. Levels in the Iowa donor milk were compared before and after pasteurization using Student's t-test. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) levels were compared among all milk banks using analysis of variance. Result: ARA (0.4 pre, 0.4 post, P=0.18) and DHA (0.073 pre, 0.073 post, P=0.84) were not affected by pasteurization. DHA varied between banks (P<0.0001), whereas ARA did not (P=0.3). DHA levels from all banks were lower than published values for maternal milk and infant formula (P<0.0001). Conclusion: Pasteurization of breastmilk does not affect DHA or ARA levels. However, DHA content in US donor milk varies with bank location and may not meet the recommended provision for preterm infants.
donor human milk Long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) neonatal nutrition docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) arachidonic acid (ARA)

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