Background: Long Chain Polyunsaturated (LCP) Fatty Acid (FA) status in the newborn may affect post natal growth and development, but data in newborns are limited due to difficulties in sample collection.Methods: A new method for FA analysis in a drop of whole blood absorbed on a strip of Chromatography Paper (Marangoni et al, Anal Biochem 2004;326:267) was applied to a population of 110 infants, by analyzing blood samples collected from the heel within 72 h after delivery (37–41 wks post-conceptional age).Results: Comparisons with data from an unrelated, healthy adult population (100 subjects), analyzed with the same technique, showed lower levels of linoleic acid (LA) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) together with higher LCP (mainly arachidonic acid, AA, and docosahexaenoic acid, DHA, 22:6 n-3) levels, and markedly higher proportions of > 22 C FA of all FA families in the newborns, revealing major differences in FA intake, metabolism and incorporation in lipid pools between the two groups. Differences in FA profiles occurred also within the newborns, in relation with 1. gender (higher LA in females) 2. gestational age, with lower AA and DHA levels in the highest decile (10 s) for post-conceptional age at birth (41.2 weeks, SD 0.1) compared to the others 3. birth weight, with higher DHA levels in the lowest (10 s) vs the highest (12 s) decile (%: 4.2, SD 0.4, vs 3.4, SD 1.0, Mann-Whitney U test: P = 0.002) and 4. maternal life style (higher 22:5 n-6/22:6 n-3 ratio in smoking vs non-smoking mothers).Conclusion: The new method of FA analysis provides valuable information on the FA status and biochemical features related to FA at very early stages of post natal development, an age that has not been adequately investigated so far.
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