Premature Infants have Lower Gastric Digestion Capacity for Human Milk Proteins than Term Infants.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Whether premature infants have lower gastric protein digestive capacity than term infants and the extent to which human milk proteases contribute to overall gastric digestion are unknown and were investigated in this study.

Methods

Human milk and infant gastric samples were collected from 16 preterm (24-32 wk gestational age) and 6 term (38-40 wk gestational age) mother-infant pairs within a range of 5 to 42 days postnatal age. For each pair, an aliquot of human milk was adjusted to pH 4.5 and incubated for 2 hours at 37 °C to simulate the gastric conditions without pepsin (milkinc). Their gastric protein digestion capacity was measured as proteolysis (free N-terminals) and protease activities. Two-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey post hoc test was appli

SUBMITTER: Demers-Mathieu V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5915911 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature