Fish Oil Supplementation Improves Docosahexaenoic Acid Status of Malnourished Infants

Overview

Journal Arch Dis Child

Specialty Pediatrics

Date 2000 May 9

PMID 10799425

Citations 3

Authors

E N Smit

E A Oelen

E Seerat

E R Boersma

F A Muskiet

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Aim: To investigate whether the low docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) status of malnourished, mostly breast fed, Pakistani children can be improved by fish oil (FO) supplementation.

Methods: Ten malnourished children (aged 8-30 months) received 500 mg FO daily for nine weeks. The supplement contained 62.8 mol% (314 mg) long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids of the omega3 series (LCPUFAomega3) and 22.5 mol% (112 mg) DHA. Seven FO unsupplemented children served as controls. Red blood cell (RBC) fatty acids were analysed at baseline and at the study end.

Results: FO supplementation augmented mean (SD) RBC DHA from 2.27 (0.81) to 3.35 (0.76) mol%, without significantly affecting the concentrations of LCPUFAomega6. Unsupplemented children showed no RBC fatty acid changes. One FO supplemented child with very low initial RBC arachidonic acid showed a remarkable increase from 4.04 to 13.84 mol%, whereas another with high RBC arachidonic acid showed a decrease from 15.64 to 10.46 mol%.

Conclusion: FO supplementation improves the DHA status of malnourished children. The supplement is apparently well absorbed and not exclusively used as a source of energy.

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