The influence of dietary palmitic acid triacylglyceride position on the fatty acid, calcium and magnesium contents of at term newborn faeces

• Published in: Early human development Vol. 65; pp. S83 - S94
• Main Authors: López-López, A, Castellote-Bargalló, A.I, Campoy-Folgoso, C, Rivero-Urgel, M, Tormo-Carnicé, R, Infante-Pina, D, López-Sabater, M.C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01-11-2001; New York,NY Elsevier; Amsterdam
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Calcium; Calcium - analysis; Chromatography, Gas; Dietary Fats - administration & dosage; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids - analysis; Feces - chemistry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human milk; Humans; Infant Food; Infant formula; Infant, Newborn; Magnesium - analysis; Milk, Human; Mother. Fetoplacental unit. Mammary gland. Milk; Palmitic acid; Palmitic Acid - administration & dosage; Palmitic Acid - chemistry; Pregnancy. Parturition. Lactation; Triglyceride structure; Triglycerides - administration & dosage; Triglycerides - chemistry; Vertebrates: reproduction; Human milk; Triglyceride structure; Calcium; Infant formula; Palmitic acid; Fatty acids; Human; Nutrition; Lipids; Triglyceride; Newborn; Triacylglycerol; Feces; Magnesium; Breast milk
• ISSN: 0378-3782; 1872-6232
• DOI: 10.1016/S0378-3782(01)00210-9

The distribution of long-chain saturated fatty acids in triglycerides is different in infant formulas to that in human milk. In human milk, palmitic acid is predominantly esterified in the
sn-2 position (β-position) of the triglycerides, whereas in infant formulas, it is esterified mainly in the
sn-1,3 positions (α,α′-positions). The specific distribution of the fatty acids in the triglyceride plays a key role in lipid digestion and absorption.
We studied fatty-acid, calcium and magnesium composition in the faeces of three groups of at term newborn infants fed different diets: Group A (
n=12) was fed from birth to 2 months with human milk (66% palmitic acid in β-position), Group B (
n=12) was fed with formula α (19% palmitic acid esterified in β-position) for 2 months, and Group C (
n=12) was fed with formula α during the first month and with formula β (44.5% palmitic acid in β-position) during the second month. Samples were taken at the end of the first month (
t
0) and at the end of the second month (
t
1).
Groups A and C presented significantly lower contents of palmitic acid in faeces at
t
1 than at
t
0, whereas in Group B, amounts remained similar. Faecal calcium in Groups A and C decreased in the second month (
t
1), although the fall was no statistically significant. In Group B, calcium amounts showed no change.
We found that infant formula β when compared with infant formula α reduced significantly the contents of total fatty acids and palmitic acid in faeces. We conclude that palmitic acid in β-position is, therefore, beneficial for term infants.