Food-based modification of LC-PUFA concentration in complementary food did not affect plasma vitamin E concentration in infants

ω-3 Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 LC-PUFA) are essential for an optimal development of infants. An increased dietary intake of ω-3 PUFA may also be associated with a decrease in the vitamin E content in the blood of healthy infants because these fatty acids have more isolated double bonds compared to ω-6 PUFA and are therefore more susceptible to lipid peroxidation.The present analysis is part of a randomised, food-based trial examining the influence of a 4–6-month intervention with an increased content of ω-3 PUFA (sources: rapeseed oil or salmon) of complementary meals on vitamin E concentration in plasma. From the introduction of complementary feeding at the age of 4–6months until the age of 10months, healthy infants born at term received vegetable–potato–meat meals either with α-linolenic acid (ALA)-rich rapeseed oil (intervention group rapeseed oil, IG-R), salmon in combination with corn oil (intervention group fish, IG-F) to provide docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), or with linoleic acid-rich corn oil (control group, CG). Blood plasma was obtained at the 4th month ±14days (age of infants at baseline) and at the 10th month ±14 days (age of infants after 6months of intervention) and analysed using HPLC (vitamin E and malondialdehyde (MDA)) and GC (fatty acids). Vitamin E (tocopherol profile) and MDA were measured in plasma samples and fatty acids were determined in plasma glycerophospholipids.Complete data on vitamin E and fatty acid concentrations were available for 155 participants. Compared to CG, IG-F and IG-R had higher weekly α-tocopherol equivalents (α-TE) intake (p<0.05) and α-TE/PUFA ratio (p<0.05 (‘baby’ meals), p<0.001 (‘junior’ meals)) by intake of complementary meals. At baseline and after intervention, no significant differences in vitamin E and MDA concentrations between IG-R, IG-F, and CG were found in plasma. In all three groups, the α-tocopherol levels decreased after intervention (p<0.001). With regard to ω-3 PUFA, no differences at baseline existed. After intervention, infants of IG-F showed higher contents of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), DHA and total ω-3 PUFA in plasma than CG, while the IG-R had higher levels of ALA compared to CG.The α-tocopherol supply decreased along with decreasing fat supply in the complementary feeding period compared to breast milk and formula milk feeding period. The increase of ω-3 PUFA intake by complementary food (rapeseed oil or salmon) did not affect the vitamin E concentration in blood plasma of infants compared to conventional complementary feeding with corn oil.www.clinicaltrials.gov, identifier: NCT01487889, title: Polyunsaturated fatty acids in child nutrition—a German multimodal optimisation study (PINGU).