Oxidative stress in healthy breast fed versus formula fed infants.

摘要

In healthy infants, 13 on breast milk (BM) and 13 on formula (F), plasma lipid peroxidation products were determined using the TBARS method and plasma antioxidant capacity was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV). Mean age, weight (expressed as % of50th percentile for age) and haemoglobin levels did not differ between the two groups. Results of the TBARS assay were expressed as malondialdehyde equivalent content (nmol MDA/ml plasma): in BM-fed infants 5.87±0.56 vs. 2.34±0.11 in F-fed infants (P<0.001). CV of plasma samples demonstrated uniform peak potential (330 mV) and similar anodic current (4.82μA±0.7 vs. 4.91μA±0.9) denoting that type and concentration of antioxidants do not differ between groups. Thus, compared to F-fed infants, BM-fed infants exhibited increased peroxidative injury in the presence of similar antioxidant capacities. As BM is the "gold standard" of optimal infant nutrition it is difficult to concede to its potential deleterious effects. Rather, based on observations linking oxygen tension with biological processes of maturation and suggestions that intracellular PUFA scavenge oxygen radicals, it is intriguing to speculate as to the physiological role of oxidants and PUFA in early life.