Year-end Sale % OFF 
Abstract
Objective: Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS) is the most common technique for detecting iron in human milk. Quantifying the iron in human milk is essential for determining the amount of dietary iron available to the exclusively breastfed infant. To determine whether more sensitive procedures for iron analyses would yield different values than those obtained using the AAS, flame atomic absorption, we investigated and compared three different analytical techniques using AAS. Methods: The present experiment was conducted as part of a larger study on the iron supplementation of 77 exclusively breast-fed infants. Breastmilk samples were collected from 10 mothers of full-term infants at one and 3½ months of age. Each sample was analyzed with a Perkin-Elmer 2380 Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer by the following analytical methods: flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry (FAAS), direct sample analysis with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry (GFAAS) and the method-of-standard-additions with GFAAS. Results: While all values were within reported ranges, there was significant inter-method variability. The decrease in iron concentration between 1-month and 3.5-month milk samples found in the present study is in agreement with a previous report. GFAAS methods produced consistently lower values than did FAAS: 1 month: direct GFAAS, 0.50 (0.33-0.86) μg/ml; method-of-addition GFAAS, 0.45 (0.31-0.66) μg/ml; FAAS 0.76 (0.25-1.60 μg/ml), mean (range): 3.5-month: direct GFAAS, 0.29 (0.13-0.46 μg/ml; method-of-addition GFAAS, 0.29 (0.11-0.44 μg/ml); FAAS method 0.78 (0.19-1.64) μg/ml. There was no difference between the two GFAAS methods at either time point. Conclusion: The findings obtained from this study suggest that much of the variability seen in the reported values of human milk iron concentrations could be due to the use of different analytical procedures. GFAAS results are consistently lower than those determined by FAAS suggesting that the exclusively breastfed infant consumes less iron than previously thought.
Highlights
Iron is a vital nutrient which is critical for the mental and physical development of infants [1]
The absolute concentration of iron in breast milk will vary through the course of lactation and has been reported by a number of researchers to be anywhere between 5-16 μM (0.27- 0.90 mg/L), with the iron concentration of colostrum being higher than mature milk [4,5,6,7,8]
A difference was found to exist in results between direct graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry (GFAAS) and flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry (FAAS) at 1-month while both GFAAS methods differed from the FAAS at 3.5-months (Figure 1)
Summary
Iron is a vital nutrient which is critical for the mental and physical development of infants [1]. Breastmilk is their sole source of iron. The concentration of iron in human breast milk has been shown to be relatively constant among different races and across a variety of socio-economic backgrounds [2]. Iron concentration in human milk does not vary greatly with respect to maternal dietary iron intake nor maternal iron status [3,4]. The bioavailability of iron from human milk has been demonstrated to be in the area of 20% and may have been overestimated in previous reports [9,10]. The challenge for the exclusively breastfed infant is adequately maintaining proper iron nutrition through the first year of life
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
