Abstract
Background
Supplementation of formula with bovine milk fat globule membranes has been shown to narrow the gap in immunological and cognitive development between breast-fed and formula-fed infants.
Method
In a double-blinded randomized controlled trial 160 formula-fed infants received an experimental formula (EF), supplemented with bovine milk fat globule membranes, or standard formula until 6 months of age. A breast-fed reference group was recruited. Lipidomic analyses were performed on plasma and erythrocyte membranes at 6 months and on serum at 4 and 12 months of age.
Results
At 6 months of age, we observed a significant separation in the plasma lipidome between the two formula groups, mostly due to differences in concentrations of sphingomyelins (SM), phosphatidylcholines (PC), and ceramides, and in the erythrocyte membrane lipidome, mostly due to SMs, PEs and PCs. Already at 4 months, a separation in the serum lipidome was evident where SMs and PCs contributed. The separation was not detected at 12 months.
Conclusions
The effect of MFGM supplementation on the lipidome is likely part of the mechanisms behind the positive cognitive and immunological effects of feeding the EF previously reported in the same study population.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the participating infants and their parents. We thank the research nurses Carina Forslund and Camilla Steinvall Lindberg, as well as the medical laboratory technologists Carina Lagerqvist for their dedicated field- and laboratory work. We also thank Hans Stenlund, Maria Ahnlund, Jonas Gullberg, and Annika Johansson at Swedish Metabolomics Centre (Cooperation between Umeå University and Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden) for plasma and erythrocyte membrane lipidomic analyses, Anette Untermann for technical assistance in the serum lipidomic analyses performed at the Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen (Copenhagen, Denmark) and BILS (Bioinformatics for life sciences Sweden, currently NBIS) for support through Rui Climaco Pinto (based at CLiC -Computational life science cluster, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden) for statistical advice. T.G. and N.T. had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. The study was funded by grants from Sweden's Innovation Agency (Vinova), Semper/Hero and Västerbotten County Council.
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Substantial contributions to the conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; T.G., T.S.D., L.A., M.D., O.H., T.H., M.K., B.L., M.O. and N.T. Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; T.G., T.S.D., L.A., M.D., O.H., T.H., M.K., B.L., M.O. and N.T. Final approval of the version to be published T.G., T.S.D., L.A., M.D., O.H., T.H., M.K., B.L., M.O. and N.T.
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O.H. and B.L. are members of Hero and Semper scientific advisory boards. T.G., T.S.D., L.A., M.D., T.H., M.K., M.O. and N.T. declare no conflicts of interest.
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Grip, T., Dyrlund, T.S., Ahonen, L. et al. Serum, plasma and erythrocyte membrane lipidomes in infants fed formula supplemented with bovine milk fat globule membranes. Pediatr Res 84, 726–732 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-018-0130-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-018-0130-9
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