Impact of nucleotides and nutritional support on growth and body composition of severely malnourished infants

Abstract

The adequate nutritional support of severe protein energy malnutrition (PEM) in infants represents a great challenge. An accepted approach has not been established by most health professionals attending malnourished infants. The objective of this study was to determine if an improvement in the growth rate and body composition of infants with PEM occurred after receiving a starting infant formula with nucleotides. Twenty-five malnourished infants from 3 to 18 months of age participated in the study. All were fed through a nasogastric tube with infant formula (3.35 kJ/mL) for 2 weeks and ad libitum for another 2 weeks. Direct and indirect anthropometric indicators were determined. The subjects were divided into 2 groups; group 1 (n = 11) was fed a formula with added nucleotides, and group 2 (n = 9), with no nucleotides. A paired t test was used to determine the differences between the initial and final measurements for each group, and nonpaired t test was used to compare the groups. Indicators of growth and fat incorporation showed significant differences within each group ( P < .001). The comparison of the rate of anthropometric changes showed no significant difference between the groups. Skin fold thickness and fat percentage were higher but not significant in group 2. An infant formula with an intake of 837 kJ/kg per day and protein of 4 g/kg per day in infants with PEM had a favorable impact on growth, fat incorporation, and body composition indicators regardless of the addition of nucleotides.