α‐Lactalbumin‐enriched low‐protein infant formulas: a comparison to breast milk feeding

• DOI: 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1996.tb14210.x
• Publication Date: 2008-01-21T15:06:05Z
• Authors: W Heine; M Radke; KD Wutzke; E Peters; G Kundt
• Keywords: 2. Zero hunger; 0303 health sciences; Cross-Over Studies; Anthropometry; Milk, Human; Tryptophan; Infant; 03 medical and health sciences; Breast Feeding; Lactalbumin; Humans; Infant Food; Amino Acids; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid

Tryptophan (TRP) is the limiting amino acid in low‐protein infant formulas. This is mainly due to lower α‐lactalbumin (αLA) content in cow's milk whey as compared with human milk protein. To study the effect of αLA‐enrichment on the TRP supply, cross‐over studies were carried out in 20 healthy infants up to 3 months of age. In this study, two protein‐reduced (1.3%) infant formulas (moderate TRP content of 1.88% and higher TRP content of 2.10%) were alternately fed over a 2 week period in two groups of infants. Serum TRP levels of the formula‐fed infants with the higher TRP content did not differ significantly from an exclusively breastfed control group of 11 infants (10.5 ±4.8 versus 10.9±4.7mgl‐1, p= 0.841), whereas levels of the formula‐fed infants with the moderate TRP content were significantly lower (7.4 ± 3.9, p= 0.038). The supplementation of αLA resulting in a higher TRP supply to low‐protein diets is a further step towards the production of infant formulas more closely adapted to human breast milk.