Summary
The fatty acid composition of mature human milk from 10 rural Nigerian women was analyzed by high-resolution capillary gas-liquid chromatography and compared to previously determined results on mature human milk from 15 German mothers. Human milk of the Nigerian group contains significantly higher proportions of saturated fatty acids (median 54.07 vs. 42.76% wt/wt). The difference is primarily caused by high values for lauric (C12:0, 8.34%) and myristic acids (C14:0, 9.57%), but not of medium chain fatty acids (C8:0, C10:0), presumably due to increased de novo fatty acid synthesis in the African women consuming a high carbohydrate and low-fat diet. Markedly lower values of oleic and total cismonounsaturated (22.82 vs. 37.98%) as well as trans-isomeric fatty acids (1.20 vs. 4.40%) in Nigerian milk appear to result from low dietary intakes of animal and partially hydrogenated fats, respectively. Although percentage contribution of linoleic acid (18:2n-6) is similar, arachidonic acid (C20:4n-6) and total n-6 long-chain polyunsaturates with 20 and 22 carbons (n-6 LCP) are higher in the African samples. N-6 LCP secretion with human milk lipids is not correlated to the precursor linoleic acid and seems not to depend on maternal dietary intake of preformed dietary LCP with animal fats. N-3 LCP are very high in milk of the Nigerian women who obtain a large portion of dietary lipids from sea fish, but even then docosahexaenoic (C22:6n-3) and not eicosapentaenoic (C20:5n-3) is the predominant n-3 LCP in milk. We conclude that, in addition to dietary effects, metabolic processes regulate the milk content of n-6 and n-3 LCP. We speculate that such metabolic regulation may protect the breastfed infant by providing a relatively constant supply of the physiologically important LCP.
Zusammenfassung
Die Fettsäuren in reifer Muttermilch von 10 Frauen aus einer ländlichen Region Nigerias wurden mit hochauflösender Kapillar-Gaschromatographie untersucht und mit früher erhobenen Ergebnissen aus der Milch von 15 deutschen Frauen verglichen. Die Frauenmilch in Nigeria enthält signifikant höhere Anteile an gesättigten Fettsäuren (Median 54,07 vs. 42,76 Gew.-%). Dieser Unterschied entsteht vorwiegend durch hohe Anteile an Laurin- (C 12:0, 8,34%) und Myristinsäure (C14:0, 9,57%), aber nicht an mittelkettigen Fettsäuren (C8:0, C10:0), wahrscheinlich als Folge einer vermehrten De-novo-Fettsäuresynthese bei den afrikanischen Frauen mit einer kohlenhydratreichen und fettarmen Ernährung. Wesentlich niedrigere Anteile der Ölsäure und der Summe an Monoenfettsäusen (22,82 vs. 37,98%) sowie der trans-isomeren Fettsäuren (1,20 vs. 4,40%) in nigerianischer Frauenmilch dürften aus der niedrigen Nahrungszufuhr an tierischen bzw. partiell gehärteten Fetten resultieren. Obwohl sich in beiden Gruppen ähnliche Gehalte an Linolsäure finden, zeigen die afrikanischen Milchproben höhere Werte für Arachidonsäure und die Summe der n-6-langkettigen Polyenfettsäuren mit 20 und 22 Kohlenstoffatomen (LCP). Der n-6-LCP-Gehalt der Frauenmilch korreliert nicht mit dem Präkursor Linolsäure und scheint nicht von der mütterlichen Nahrungsaufnahme an präformierten LCP aus tierischen Fetten abhängig zu sein. Sehr hohe Werte ergeben sich für n-3-LCP in der Milch der nigerianischen Frauen, bei denen ein relativ großer Anteil der Nahrungsfette durch Seefisch beigetragen wird. Dabei bleibt aber Docosahexaensäure die quantitativ wichtigste n-3-LCP-Fettsäure in der Milch und wird nicht von Eicosapentaensäure verdrängt. Wir folgern, daß der LCP-Gehalt der Frauenmilch nicht allein von der Zusammensetzung der mütterlichen Ernährung abhängt, sondern zusätzlich durch metabolische Prozesse reguliert wird. Wir spekulieren, daß eine solche metabolische Regulation einen Schutzmechanismus für das gestillte Kind darstellen könnte, durch den die kindliche Nahrungszufuhr der physiologisch wichtigen LCP relativ konstant gehalten wird.
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Abbreviations
- LCP:
-
Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids with 20 and 22 carbon atoms and 2–6 double bonds
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Koletzko, B., Thiel, I. & Abiodun, P.O. Fatty acid composition of mature human milk in Nigeria. Z Ernährungswiss 30, 289–297 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01651958
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01651958