Amino acid requirements of infants: are they adequately covered by infant formulas?

Little is known about the nutritional quality of proteins and amino acids in infant formulas (IFs), compared with the amino acid requirements of infants. The aim of this project was to quantify the needs of infants by analysing the content and bioavailability of amino acids and nitrogen in human milk and to compare these data with those of an IF.

The bioavailability of amino acids and nitrogen was measured in mini-piglets, used as a model for human infants. The results showed that :

- The bioavailability of amino acids in IF was high and similar to that in human milk for most amino acids

- The bioavailability of lysine was reduced in IF, in line with the heat treatments applied to the latter,

- True ileal digestibility of total nitrogen was lower for human milk than for IF. This is explained by the high content of non-protein nitrogen in human milk (urea, N-actetyl-glucosamine, etc.), which is non-digestible and non-absorbable in the small intestine. The non-protein fraction of IFs, because of its importance for the microbiota, should therefore be better studied when IFs are formulated,

- IF covers infant amino acid requirements, but to do so it must contain 1.2 times more protein than human milk, as indicated by the DIAAS (Digestible Insidpensable Amino Acid Score).

This study also showed that diet influenced the development of the microbiota-intestine-brain axis in the mini-porcelet, a model of the human infant, and that digestion as studied using this in vivo model versus a dynamic in vitro digestion model (DIDGI®) were comparable.

 These data highlight the need to revise the infant requirements proposed by the FAO in 2007.

Collaborations

- Institut NUMECAN (INRAE AlimH), Rennes

- CHU Rennes

- RIDDET Institute (Nouvelle Zélande)

Read more

• Charton, E., Bourgeois, A., Bellanger, A., Le-Gouar, Y., Dahirel, P., Romé, V., Randuineau, G., Cahu, A., Moughan, P. J., Montoya, C. A., Blat, S., Dupont, D., Deglaire, A., & Le Huërou-Luron, I. (2022). Infant nutrition affects the microbiota-gut-brain axis : Comparison of human milk vs. infant formula feeding in the piglet model. Frontiers in Nutrition, 9, 976042. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.976042
• Charton, E., Henry, G., Cahu, A., Le Gouar, Y., Dahirel, P., Moughan, P. J., Montoya, C. A., Bellanger, A., Dupont, D., Le Huërou-Luron, I., & Deglaire, A. (2023). Ileal Digestibility of Nitrogen and Amino Acids in Human Milk and an Infant Formula as Determined in Neonatal Minipiglets. The Journal of Nutrition, 153(4), 1063‑1074. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.02.025
• Charton, E., Menard, O., Cochet, M.-F., Le Gouar, Y., Jardin, J., Henry, G., Ossemond, J., Bellanger, A., Montoya, C. A., Moughan, P. J., Dupont, D., Le Huërou-Luron, I., & Deglaire, A. (2024). Human milk vs. Infant formula digestive fate : In vitro dynamic digestion and in vivo mini-piglet models lead to similar conclusions. Food Research International, 196, 115070. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2024.115070
• Moughan, P. J., Deglaire, A., Yan, Y., Wescombe, P., Xin, W., Lim, J., Stroebinger, N., Duan, S., Szeto, I. M.-Y., & Hodgkinson, S. (2024). Amino acid requirements of the infant : The amino acid composition of human breast milk. Frontiers in Nutrition, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2024.1446565

Contact

Amélie Deglaire amelie.deglaire@institut-agro.fr