Abstract
The neurocognitive development of infants can be positively associated with breastfeeding exclusivity and duration. Differences in dietary lipid quality between human milk and infant milk formula may contribute to this effect. In this review, we describe some of the known differences between human milk and infant milk formula in lipid quality, including fatty acid composition, complex lipids in the milk fat globule membrane as well as the physical properties of lipids and lipid globules. We describe some of the underlying mechanism by which these aspects of lipid quality are thought to modulate infant brain development such as differences in the supply and/or the bioavailability of lipids, lipid bound components and peripheral organ derived neurodevelopmental signals to the infant brain after ingestion and on longer term.
Highlights
Résumé – Composition et structure des lipides du lait ; importance pour le développement du cerveau du nourrisson
Brain development and function can be influenced by the behavioral aspects of infant feeding (e.g. breast vs bottle feeding (Li et al, 2010; DiSantis et al, 2011), feeding on demand vs fixed schedule (Iacovou and Sevilla, 2013), selfregulation vs parental encouragement for bottle emptying (Li et al, 2008), mother-child bonding (Britton et al, 2006)), as well as compositional differences between human milk and formula such as the presence of bioactive components in human milk including hormones, growth factors and immune factors (Savino et al, 2009; Field, 2005; Ballard and Morrow, 2013; Grey et al, 2013)
60% of the dry-weight of the human brain consists of lipids (O’Brien and Sampson, 1965) and about 35% of the lipids in the grey matter are LCPUFA (Benatti et al, 2004)
Summary
The first and only source of nutrition directly after birth is maternal milk. There are several reports that show that breastfeeding exclusivity and duration can be positively associated with e.g. brain structural development (Deoni et al, 2013, 2018; Herba et al, 2013; Kafouri et al, 2013), cognitive function (Anderson et al, 1999; Belfort et al, 2013; Leventakou et al, 2015), behaviour, school performance (Heikkila et al, 2014) and food intake regulation (Li et al, 2010; DiSantis et al, 2011) This suggests that factors beyond bulk nutritional constituents contribute to the differences observed between breast- and formula-fed infants. The (supra)molecular structure in which lipids are organized is substantially different between human milk and IMF These specific aspects of lipid quality and how they may relate to infant brain development and function will be addressed in more detail below
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
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.
