• DOI:10.1203/PDR.0b013e318168c6d1
• Corpus ID: 6564743

Nutrition for the Brain: Commentary on the article by Isaacs et al. on page 308

@article{Hppi2008NutritionFT,
  title={Nutrition for the Brain: Commentary on the article by Isaacs et al. on page 308},
  author={Petra S. H{\"u}ppi},
  journal={Pediatric Research},
  year={2008},
  volume={63},
  pages={229-231}
}

• P. Hüppi
• Published 1 March 2008
• Medicine
• Pediatric Research

T he question of whether brain function is entirely genetically determined or may be influenced by the environment or by nutrition has been debated for decades. Several studies have associated breastfeeding with improved intelligence in later life (1–5). Of course many confounding factors such as socioeconomic status, perinatal , and early childhood morbidities will influence both readiness for breastfeeding as well as direct cognitive development. Effects of studies rigorously controlling for maternal intelligence did not indeed find the same major beneficial effects of breastfeeding on later intelligence (6,7). Mechanisms by which breastfeeding is supposed to exert its effects on cognitive development is mainly fatty acid (FA) composition of human milk, containing polyunsaturated FA such as omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and trophic factors such as insulin-like growth factor-1 (8), both important for organ development and in particular for the brain. The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children showed that IQ increased by 3.2 points for every 100 ng/mL increase of plasma insulin-like growth factor-1 levels and this in particular for the Verbal IQ (VIQ) compared with the Performance IQ (PIQ) (9). Polyunsatu-rated FA, such as DHA [22:6(n-3)] are important precursors of membrane lipids and are, as such, important components of brain growth and myelination. DHA is the most abundant (n-3) fatty acid in the mammalian brain. DHA in the brain can be obtained either as DHA itself or from one of its precursors, ␣-linolenic acid or eicosa-pentaenoic acid. However, the rates of conversion of ␣-linolenic acid to DHA is low in humans (less than 1% of dietary amount). Before birth, DHA is transported through the placenta via pathways involving fatty acid binding proteins and ␣-fetoprotein, before release into the fetal circulation, the rate of transfer increasing during the third trimester. High dietary intake of DHA during pregnancy results in higher maternal-to-fetal transfer (10). After birth, the infant is provided with DHA in mother's milk. However, the level of DHA can vary (from less than 0.1 to 1% of milk fatty acids) depending on the amount of DHA in the mother's diet. For the premature infant, nutrition regularly provided by the pla-cental transfer during the third trimester dramatically changes after birth at a time point when the organism is still dependent on nutrients transferred from the placenta. Both parental nutrition as well as breast milk of mothers after premature birth provide insufficient nutritional support to the developing brain …