Long-chain saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids associate with development of premature infants up to 18 months of age.

Myelination is important perinatally and highly dependent on long-chain saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, nowadays often supplemented, inhibit oleic acid synthesis. Using data from a premature cohort, we studied if nervonic, lignoceric and oleic acids correlated to growth and early development up to 18 months corrected age.

Nervonic acid is much lower in donor milk than in milk from mothers delivering premature infants--of neglected importance?

Nervonic acid is important for white matter development and its incorporation increases rapidly in the last trimester, but few studies focus on this fatty acid. Other mother's milk, usually after term delivery, is often used for premature infants, whose mothers cannot breastfeed. The fatty acid (FA) concentrations were analyzed by gas chromatography in 12 samples of donor human milk (DHM) from five mothers, and compared to milk from 42 mothers delivering preterm infants.