Dietary Nucleotides and Early Growth in Formula-Fed Infants: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Atul Singhal*, Kathy Kennedy, J. Lanigan, Helen Clough, Wendy Jenkins, Alun Elias-Jones, Terrence Stephenson, Peter Dudek, Alan Lucas

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

<jats:sec> <jats:title>BACKGROUND:</jats:title> <jats:p>Dietary nucleotides are nonprotein nitrogenous compounds that are found in high concentrations in breast milk and are thought to be conditionally essential nutrients in infancy. A high nucleotide intake has been suggested to explain some of the benefits of breastfeeding compared with formula feeding and to promote infant growth. However, relatively few large-scale randomized trials have tested this hypothesis in healthy infants.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>OBJECTIVE:</jats:title> <jats:p>We tested the hypothesis that nucleotide supplementation of formula benefits early infant growth.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>PATIENTS AND METHODS:</jats:title> <jats:p>Occipitofrontal head circumference, weight, and length were assessed in infants who were randomly assigned to groups fed nucleotide-supplemented (31 mg/L; n = 100) or control formula without nucleotide supplementation (n = 100) from birth to the age of 20 weeks, and in infants who were breastfed (reference group; n = 101).</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>RESULTS:</jats:title> <jats:p>Infants fed with nucleotide-supplemented formula had greater occipitofrontal head circumference at ages 8, 16, and 20 weeks than infants fed control formula (mean difference in z scores at 8 weeks: 0.4 [95% confidence interval: 0.1–0.7]; P = .006) even after adjustment for potential confounding factors (P = .002). Weight at 8 weeks and the increase in both occipitofrontal head circumference and weight from birth to 8 weeks were also greater in infants fed nucleotide-supplemented formula than in those fed control formula.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>CONCLUSIONS:</jats:title> <jats:p>Our data support the hypothesis that nucleotide supplementation leads to increased weight gain and head growth in formula-fed infants. Therefore, nucleotides could be conditionally essential for optimal infant growth in some formula-fed populations. Additional research is needed to test the hypothesis that the benefits of nucleotide supplementation for early head growth, a critical period for brain growth, have advantages for long-term cognitive development.</jats:p> </jats:sec>
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)e946-e953
Number of pages0
JournalPediatrics
Volume126
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2010

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