American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 56, 65-70, Copyright © 1992 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc

ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS

Milk and blood fatty acid composition during two lactations in the same woman

ML Spear, M Hamosh, J Bitman, ML Spear and DL Wood
Division of Neonatology, Medical Center of Delaware, Christiana Hospital, Newark 19718.

Fatty acid composition of colostrum, milk, and serum was studied during two consecutive lactations in the same woman. There were marked differences between milk and serum: medium chain fatty acids (C6:0- C14:0) were higher in milk (8.36-21.37%) than in serum (1.59-9.6%) throughout lactation. The high milk-serum ratio of medium chain fatty acids (up to 28.4, 30.2, and 6.2 for 10:0, 12:0, and 14:0, respectively) indicates synthesis in the mammary gland. Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (C20:1-C22:6) of the n - 3 and n - 6 series were higher in serum (6.76-12.53%) than in milk (1.57-4.42%). With the exception of colostrum, the fatty acid composition of milk and serum changed little during lactation and was similar in two consecutive lactations in the same woman. Comparison of milk and serum fatty acids provides a noninvasive approach for the assessment of the synthetic activity of the human mammary gland.

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