Abstract
Infant formulas offer an alternative to breast milk for both normal birth weight (NBW) and immunocompromised intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) infants. Although the lipid fraction in formulas is often derived from vegetable oils, it is unclear if this alters immunological outcomes relative to milk fats or whether these effects differ between IUGR and NBW infants. We hypothesized that replacing vegetable oil with bovine milk fat in infant formula would improve immune development in IUGR and NBW neonates. Two-day old piglets were selected (NBW, n = 18, IUGR, n = 18) and each group of animals were fed formula based on either vegetable oil (VEG) or bovine milk fat (MILK). Animals were reared until day 23/24 and systemic immune parameters were evaluated. Milk-fat feeding decreased blood neutrophil counts and improved neutrophil function while transiently reducing leucocytes’ expression of genes related to adaptive and innate immunity as well as energy metabolism, following in vitro stimulation by live Staphylococcus epidermidis (whole blood, 2 h). However, there were only a few interactions between milk-fat type and birthweight status. Thus, piglets fed milk-fat-based formula had improved neutrophil maturation and suppressed pro-inflammatory responses, compared to those fed vegetable-oil-based formula.
Highlights
The optimal diet for newborn infants is their mother’s own milk, which helps support normal gut development, microbial colonization and reduces the risk of postnatal infections [1,2,3]
We have previously shown that fetal growth restricted pigs are good models of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) infants, as they show impaired resistance to infections and a hypo-reactive immune response in the immediate neonatal period [22,23,24]
Birthweight was significantly lower in the IUGR compared to the normal birthweight (NBW)
Summary
The optimal diet for newborn infants is their mother’s own milk, which helps support normal gut development, microbial colonization and reduces the risk of postnatal infections [1,2,3]. Infants that are born following intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) especially require adequate nutritional support due to their compromised postnatal growth. They experience a higher incidence of postnatal infections with higher mortality [4], and show lower blood leucocyte counts and impaired blood cytokine production [5,6,7] with evidence suggesting that abnormal immune function may persist for several years after birth [8,9]. The detailed impact of components in enteral nutrition during early life, on the developing immune system of both normal birthweight (NBW) and IUGR infants remains largely unknown.
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