An infant formula containing dairy lipids increased red blood cell membrane Omega 3 fatty acids in 4 month-old healthy newborns: a randomized controlled trial

Table 3 RBC membrane FA levels (% of total FA) after 4 months

	Formula D n = 23	Formula P n = 24	Formula PDHA n = 23	BF n = 18	p-value
Total SFA	33.4 ± 3.1	34.1 ± 3.6	35.2 ± 2.5	34.7 ± 2.9	0.514
Total MUFA	22.4 ± 2.1^a	21.5 ± 1.5^{a, b}	20.2 ± 1.4^b	21.0 ± 2.1^b	< 0.001
Total PUFA	43.7 ± 3.6	44.1 ± 3.7	44.3 ± 2.5	43.9 ± 3.5	0.342
Total Omega 6	35.0 ± 2.7	38.3 ± 3.3	35.4 ± 1.8	34.0 ± 2.5	0.465
18:2(n-6) LA	6.2 ± 0.6^a	6.3 ± 0.6^a	4.4 ± 0.4^b	3.8 ± 0.8^c	< 0.001
20:4(n-6) ARA	20.3 ± 1.9	21.6 ± 2.2	22.6 ± 1.5	22.2 ± 1.7	0.747
22:4(n-6)	5.9 ± 1.1	6.9 ± 1.3	6.2 ± 1.1	5.6 ± 1.5	0.261
22:5(n-6) DPA n-6	0.8 ± 0.2	1.1 ± 0.3	0.9 ± 0.2	0.9 ± 0.3	0.359
18:3(n-3) ALA	0.2 ± 0.0^a	0.1 ± 0.0^b	0.1 ± 0.0^b	0.1 ± 0.1^b	< 0.001
20:5(n-3) EPA	0.7 ± 0.2^a	0.3 ± 0.1^b	0.4 ± 0.1^c	0.5 ± 0.1^c	< 0.001

Formula D (n = 23) contained a mixture of dairy lipids and plant oils; formula P (n = 24) contained only plant oils and formula PDHA (n = 23) contained plant oils supplemented with ARA and DHA. BF: breastfed reference group (n = 18). PE: phosphatidylethanolamine
Comparison of the 4 groups by ANOVA with 3 fixed factors (Sex, gestational age, group) and post-hoc Tukey’s adjustments
^a ≠ ^b ≠ ^c; p < 0.05

ISSN: 1471-2431