Human milk fatty acids from lactating mothers of preterm infants: A study revealing wide intra- and inter-individual variation

Abstract Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (AA) are important nutrients in the preterm diet and fixed ratios have been proposed for formula. We evaluated the intra- and inter-individual variation in milk fatty acids from mothers of preterm infants involved in a randomised trial of tuna oil or placebo supplementation. Milk samples were collected every 2 weeks while infants were hospitalised and fatty acids analysed by capillary gas chromatography. DHA was higher in milk of supplemented mothers than control (% total fatty acids, mean±SD, treatment 0.9±0.4, control 0.3±0.1, p