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Dietary nucleotides and preterm infant nutrition

Journal of Perinatology volume 26, pages 443–444 (2006)Cite this article

Nucleotides (NT) have been added to formulas for term infants in the US since the mid-1980s, and to formulas for preterm infants since 2002. The primary justification for these additions was evidence in animals and humans that dietary NT enhance development of the gastrointestinal and immune systems.1, 2 A lower incidence of diarrhea,3, 4, 5 enhanced response to vaccination,4, 6, 22 and effects on natural killer cell activity7 and immune cell subset distribution8 have been reported in term infants. We are aware of only one published study reporting dietary NT effects in preterm infants: serum concentrations of immunoglobulin G to β-lactoglobulin were significantly greater in preterm infants fed NT-supplemented formula for 30 days.9

In the early 1990's, we participated in a multi-center, randomized clinical trial to investigate dietary NT effects in very low birth weight preterm infants. There was no significant effect of NT supplementation on indices of immune function – the primary outcome measure. At one of the three sites, there was a greater incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) among infants fed the NT-supplemented formula (five of 40 infants (12.5%) in the supplemented group versus 0 of 44 infants in the unsupplemented group). A direct causal relationship between the NT-supplemented study formula and the development of NEC could not be established, since the incidence of NEC in the study group was equivalent to the incidence among similar non-study infants admitted to our neonatal intensive care units at that time. The results of this study were not submitted for publication due to several significant methodological issues related to the study design.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa, FL, USA

    J D Carver & C I Stromquist

  2. West Coast Neonatology, All Children's Hospital, St Petersburg, FL, USA

    C I Stromquist

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  1. J D Carver
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  2. C I Stromquist
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Correspondence to J D Carver.

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Carver, J., Stromquist, C. Dietary nucleotides and preterm infant nutrition. J Perinatol 26, 443–444 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jp.7211516

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