Skip to main content
PMC home page
Archives of Disease in Childhood. Fetal and Neonatal Edition logoLink to Archives of Disease in Childhood. Fetal and Neonatal Edition
. 1999 May;80(3):F183–F187. doi: 10.1136/fn.80.3.f183

Development of fat digestion in infancy

W Manson, W Coward, M Harding, L Weaver
PMCID: PMC1720918  PMID: 10212078

Abstract

AIM—To measure the development of fat digestion in early life, using a stable isotope breath test.
METHODS—A combined longitudinal and cross sectional study was performed on 30 term and preterm infants using 13C-labelled mixed triglyceride (MTG). Seventy six tests were performed in all. Results were expressed as cumulative percentage dose recovered over 6 hours (cPDR).
RESULTS—Eighteen of 34 tests performed on infants under 30 days of age showed cPDRs below the normal range for adults and older children. The remainder of tests, performed on infants over 57 days of age, all showed cPDRs within the normal range. Peak PDR correlated significantly (r = 0.928, p<0.01) with cPDR.
CONCLUSION—The capacity to digest fat is incomplete at birth, but quickly develops to normal levels during the first months of life. The MTG breath test is a useful non-invasive method to measure the development of fat digestion in early life.



Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (131.1 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Agostoni C., Trojan S., Bellù R., Riva E., Giovannini M. Neurodevelopmental quotient of healthy term infants at 4 months and feeding practice: the role of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids. Pediatr Res. 1995 Aug;38(2):262–266. doi: 10.1203/00006450-199508000-00021. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Alemi B., Hamosh M., Scanlon J. W., Salzman-Mann C., Hamosh P. Fat digestion in very low-birth-weight infants: effect of addition of human milk to low-birth-weight formula. Pediatrics. 1981 Oct;68(4):484–489. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Amarri S., Coward W. A., Harding M., Weaver L. T. Importance of measuring CO2-production rate when using 13C-breath tests to measure fat digestion. Br J Nutr. 1998 Jun;79(6):541–545. doi: 10.1079/bjn19980093. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Amarri S., Harding M., Coward W. A., Evans T. J., Weaver L. T. 13Carbon mixed triglyceride breath test and pancreatic enzyme supplementation in cystic fibrosis. Arch Dis Child. 1997 Apr;76(4):349–351. doi: 10.1136/adc.76.4.349. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Amarri S., Weaver L. T. (13)C-breath tests to measure fat and carbohydrate digestion in clinical practice. Clin Nutr. 1995 Jun;14(3):149–154. doi: 10.1016/s0261-5614(95)80012-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Ghoos Y. F., Vantrappen G. R., Rutgeerts P. J., Schurmans P. C. A mixed-triglyceride breath test for intraluminal fat digestive activity. Digestion. 1981;22(5):239–247. doi: 10.1159/000198663. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Haycock G. B., Schwartz G. J., Wisotsky D. H. Geometric method for measuring body surface area: a height-weight formula validated in infants, children, and adults. J Pediatr. 1978 Jul;93(1):62–66. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(78)80601-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hoshi J., Nishida H., Yasui M., Ohishi M., Takahashi M. [13C] breath test of medium-chain triglycerides and oligosaccharides in neonates. Acta Paediatr Jpn. 1992 Dec;34(6):674–677. doi: 10.1111/j.1442-200x.1992.tb01030.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Lucas A., Quinlan P., Abrams S., Ryan S., Meah S., Lucas P. J. Randomised controlled trial of a synthetic triglyceride milk formula for preterm infants. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 1997 Nov;77(3):F178–F184. doi: 10.1136/fn.77.3.f178. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Makrides M., Simmer K., Goggin M., Gibson R. A. Erythrocyte docosahexaenoic acid correlates with the visual response of healthy, term infants. Pediatr Res. 1993 Apr;33(4 Pt 1):425–427. doi: 10.1203/00006450-199304000-00021. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Manson W. G., Weaver L. T. Fat digestion in the neonate. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 1997 May;76(3):F206–F211. doi: 10.1136/fn.76.3.f206. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. McClean P., Harding M., Coward W. A., Green M. R., Weaver L. T. Measurement of fat digestion in early life using a stable isotope breath test. Arch Dis Child. 1993 Sep;69(3):366–370. doi: 10.1136/adc.69.3.366. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Shreeve W. W., Cerasi E., Luft R. Metabolism of [2-14C] pyruvate in normal, acromegalic and hgh-treated human subjects. Acta Endocrinol (Copenh) 1970 Sep;65(1):155–169. doi: 10.1530/acta.0.0650155. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Vantrappen G. R., Rutgeerts P. J., Ghoos Y. F., Hiele M. I. Mixed triglyceride breath test: a noninvasive test of pancreatic lipase activity in the duodenum. Gastroenterology. 1989 Apr;96(4):1126–1134. doi: 10.1016/0016-5085(89)91632-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Veereman-Wauters G., Ghoos Y., van der Schoor S., Maes B., Hebbalkar N., Devlieger H., Eggermont E. The 13C-octanoic acid breath test: a noninvasive technique to assess gastric emptying in preterm infants. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 1996 Aug;23(2):111–117. doi: 10.1097/00005176-199608000-00003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Watkins J. B., Klein P. D., Schoeller D. A., Kirschner B. S., Park R., Perman J. A. Diagnosis and differentiation of fat malabsorption in children using 13C-labeled lipids: trioctanoin, triolein, and palmitic acid breath tests. Gastroenterology. 1982 May;82(5 Pt 1):911–917. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Watkins J. B., Schoeller D. A., Klein P. D., Ott D. G., Newcomer A. D., Hofmann A. F. 13C-trioctanoin: a nonradioactive breath test to detect fat malabsorption. J Lab Clin Med. 1977 Sep;90(3):422–430. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Zoppi G., Andreotti G., Pajno-Ferrara F., Njai D. M., Gaburro D. Exocrine pancreas function in premature and full term neonates. Pediatr Res. 1972 Dec;6(12):880–886. doi: 10.1203/00006450-197212000-00005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Archives of Disease in Childhood. Fetal and Neonatal Edition are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES