TABLE 2.

Differences in lipid subtype concentrations and fatty acid compositions across lactation stages of women throughout the world

Variable	Colostrum					Transition					Mature					P value3
	n 1	K2	Mean (95% CI)	SD	I 2 , %	n 1	K2	Mean (95% CI)	SD	I 2 , %	n 1	K2	Mean (95% CI)	SD	I 2 , %
Total fat, g/100 mL	13	533	2.34 (2.07, 2.61)	1.20	89.6	13	555	3.22 (2.91, 3.54)	1.14	96.6	30	14,523	3.61 (3.37, 3.86)	0.90	96.5	<0.001
Phospholipid, mg/100 mL	8	395	43.1 (30.4, 55.7)	23.8	99.1	8	383	40.2 (28.0, 52.5)	26.0	98.7	10	13,475	30.7 (24.4, 37.0)	7.79	98.6	0.134
Cholesterol, mg/100 mL	2	48	30.9 (23.7, 38.0)	9.57	65.2	1	11	19.7 (15.6, 23.8)	7.00	NA4	9	1162	14.0 (11.8, 16.1)	5.55	99.1	<0.001
SFA, %	44	2406	40.0 (38.6, 41.5)	6.54	98.4	25	1524	40.6 (38.6, 42.5)	6.57	99.0	86	7754	42.2 (41.0, 43.3)	7.73	99.1	0.059
6:0	9	461	0.06 (0.02, 0.10)	0.06	99.7	6	292	0.10 (0.03, 0.16)	0.07	99.7	19	1252	0.13 (0.07, 0.20)	0.47	99.6	0.159
8:0	23	1061	0.08 (0.06, 0.10)	0.13	98.2	13	596	0.22(0.14, 0.30)	0.13	98.9	59	3833	0.21 (0.17, 0.26)	0.22	99.5	<0.001
10:0	37	2081	0.69 (0.57, 0.82)	0.50	99.7	23	1477	1.29 (1.07, 1.51)	0.64	99.5	94	8938	1.37 (1.25, 1.48)	0.86	99.4	<0.001
12:0	46	2376	3.15 (2.79, 3.50)	1.99	98.3	29	1572	5.31 (4.66, 5.97)	2.61	99.1	108	9531	5.70 (5.28, 6.11)	2.81	99.2	<0.001
13:0	11	565	0.05 (0.02, 0.08)	0.06	98.3	7	292	0.09 (0.03, 0.14)	0.09	99.0	32	1927	0.10 (0.03, 0.17)	0.15	99.3	0.345
14:0	53	2582	5.29 (4.97, 5.61)	2.01	96.2	32	1616	6.31(5.70, 6.92)	2.31	96.3	113	9653	6.56 (6.16, 6.95)	3.05	98.6	<0.001
15:0	28	1317	0.23 (0.18, 0.27)	0.18	99.2	16	781	0.21 (0.17, 0.24)	0.13	98.3	72	4465	0.25 (0.23, 0.28)	0.16	99.3	0.136
16:0	53	2589	23.6 (22.8, 24.5)	3.79	99.5	34	1636	21.5 (20.6, 22.5)	4.62	99.3	117	9838	21.5 (20.9, 22.2)	4.82	99.3	<0.001
17:0	30	2608	0.30 (0.27, 0.34)	0.51	99.0	19	1304	0.29 (0.25, 0.32)	0.36	96.7	70	5772	0.31 (0.28, 0.33)	0.15	98.8	0.656
18:0	55	2638	6.27 (5.97, 6.56)	2.20	97.7	34	1633	6.21 (5.74, 6.68)	1.82	99.2	118	9783	6.36 (6.14, 6.58)	2.07	98.7	0.810
20:0	37	1572	0.23 (0.20, 0.26)	0.15	98.0	22	929	0.25 (0.19, 0.31)	0.62	99.1	88	6798	0.23 (0.21, 0.26)	0.17	99.1	0.847
22:0	31	1385	0.14 (0.11, 0.17)	0.13	98.1	16	576	0.11 (0.09, 0.13)	0.06	98.1	72	5685	0.12 (0.10, 0.14)	0.17	98.8	0.221
24:0	30	1405	0.21 (0.17, 0.24)	0.17	97.4	17	600	0.13 (0.10, 0.15)	0.08	97.1	64	5489	0.10 (0.08, 0.11)	0.09	98.8	<0.001
MUFA, %	44	2348	37.8 (36.4, 39.1)	7.17	99.5	23	1435	35.8 (34.0, 37.6)	6.16	99.7	86	7404	36.3 (35.3, 37.4)	6.46	99.7	0.143
16:1n–7	24	1094	1.86 (1.68, 2.05)	0.76	96.4	17	614	2.09 (1.87, 2.31)	0.67	96.8	59	6432	2.3 (2.11, 2.49)	0.92	98.9	0.005
18:1n–9	35	1859	33.7 (32.3, 35.1)	7.05	99.5	25	1274	32.5 (30.8, 34.1)	7.41	99.7	75	6892	32.6 (31.5, 33.7)	5.84	99.6	0.416
20:1n–9	30	2541	0.80 (0.69, 0.91)	0.39	99.8	22	1219	0.51 (0.42, 0.60)	0.29	99.1	64	4378	0.46 (0.41, 0.50)	0.28	99.2	<0.001
22:1n–9	22	1456	0.25 (0.20, 0.29)	0.32	98.5	16	1063	0.19 (0.13, 0.24)	0.42	97.9	49	4984	0.18 (0.12, 0.23)	0.69	99.7	0.131
PUFA, %	29	1848	22.5 (19.9, 25.2)	8.71	99.8	17	1281	24.5 (20.7, 28.3)	8.43	99.9	53	4512	21.2 (19.3, 23.1)	8.18	99.8	0.287
18:2n–6	52	3395	15.3 (13.6, 17.0)	7.19	99.7	27	1482	18.0 (15.5, 20.5)	7.83	99.8	117	10,214	15.7 (14.7, 16.7)	7.15	99.7	0.193
18:3n–6	44	3369	0.12 (0.08, 0.15)	0.16	99.4	19	788	0.13 (0.09, 0.18)	0.10	98.6	85	7593	0.19 (0.15, 0.23)	0.24	99.3	0.017
20:2n–6	41	2043	0.90 (0.82, 0.99)	0.4	98.8	24	792	0.59 (0.53, 0.65)	0.23	97.6	80	5570	0.37 (0.34, 0.40)	0.19	99.4	<0.001
20:3n–6	51	3674	0.62 (0.58, 0.66)	0.24	97.2	29	1619	0.50 (0.46, 0.54)	0.21	97.9	102	8241	0.37 (0.35, 0.40)	0.18	97.9	<0.001
20:4n–6	56	3576	0.78 (0.74, 0.83)	0.29	97.9	28	1478	0.63 (0.57, 0.69)	0.24	98.7	119	10,139	0.50 (0.47, 0.53)	0.25	98.6	<0.001
18:3n–3	53	3463	0.95 (0.81, 1.10)	0.96	99.7	28	1493	1.18 (0.90, 1.47)	2.17	99.7	121	10,367	1.11 (1.00, 1.21)	1.05	99.6	0.169
20:3n–3	23	1281	0.15 (0.10, 0.20)	0.14	99.3	10	809	0.20 (0.03, 0.37)	0.22	99.2	51	4949	0.10 (0.06, 0.14)	0.12	99.2	0.171
20:5n–3	47	3174	0.14 (0.08, 0.20)	0.44	99.9	23	1167	0.16 (0.06, 0.26)	0.87	99.8	97	8366	0.12 (0.10, 0.15)	0.67	98.9	0.677
22:6n–3	54	3368	0.59 (0.52, 0.65)	0.3	98.2	31	1522	0.48 (0.42, 0.55)	0.27	97.9	118	10,083	0.37 (0.33, 0.40)	0.31	99.7	<0.001
Total n–6	37	2975	17.8 (15.6, 20.1)	8.52	99.8	21	1402	19.8 (16.6, 22.9)	8.00	99.9	69	6821	17.8 (16.2, 19.3)	7.51	100.0	0.512
Total n–3	40	3064	1.97 (1.70, 2.24)	0.87	99.9	23	1502	1.85 (1.48, 2.21)	2.41	99.9	68	5933	1.88 (1.55, 2.21)	2.63	99.8	0.846

¹ n: total number of studies.

²K: total sample size.

³ P: for subgroup difference.

⁴NA: not applicable.