Abstract
ABSTRACT: The effects of different protein intakes on wt gain, insulin secretion, and plasma concentrations of amino acids have been evaluated in a prospective study involving 30 normal term infants. The infants were studied from 4.0 to 6.0 mo of age. Ten infants were breast-fed (BF), the others were randomly divided into two groups of 10 infants. One group was fed a formula containing 1.3 g protein/100 mL (F 1.3), the other a formula with 1.8 g protein/100 mL (F 1.8). The formulas were isocaloric (72 kcaI/100 mL), and the fat concentrations were 3.5 g/100 mL (F 1.3) and 3.2 g/100 mL (F 1.8). AH infants received the same supplementary foods. The urinary C-peptide excretion in the infants fed the F 1.8-formula was 4.4 ± 2.1 nmol/mmol creatinine or 19.4 ± 12.9 nmol/m2, significantly higher than that in the infants fed the F 1.3-formula (2.6 ± 1 .5 and 7.9 ± 5.1) or the BF infants (1.7 ± 1.4 and 6.3 ± 6.0). Gain in wt was 18.0 ± 4.3,19.9 ± 3.9, 22.8 ± 1.6 g/kg/wk and corresponded to protein intakes of 1.3 ± 0.2, 1.9 ± 0.3, and 2.6 ± 0.2 g/kg/d, in the BF, F 1.3, and F 1.8 groups, respectively. Gain in length was 6.7 ± 1 .8 (BFgroup), 6.2 ± 2.5 (F 1.3-group), and 7.6 ± 2.2 (F 1.8- group) mm/m/wk. Wt gain correlated with urinary Cpeptide excretion at 6.0 mo (r=0.51, p<0.01) and with protein intake (r=0.43, p<0.01). Furthermore, protein intake correlated with urinary C-peptide excretion (r=0.66, p<0.001). Caloric intake from carbohydrate and fat correlated both with wt gain (r=0.34, p<0.05) and with urinary C-peptide (r=0.44, p<0.05). A higher protein intake during a meal resulted in a higher postprandial excretion of urinary C-peptide. The difference between plasma C-peptide (δC-peptide) before and after a meal was highest in the groups of infants fed the F 1.8-formula. The intakes of the insulin-releasing amino acids (arginine, lysine, leucine, phenylalanine, valine, isoleucine, and threonine) were higher in the F 1.8-group than in the F 1.3- and BF-groups. The sums of the fasting plasma concentrations of these amino acids were 64.8 (BF), 83.6 (F 1.3), and 96.3 (F 1.8) /µ nol/100 mL. The plasma concentrations of the branched-chain amino acids, valine, leucine, and isoleucine correlated with wt gain and plasma valine-glycine ratio increased with higher protein intake. These results suggest that protein amino acid-induced insulin secretion could be a factor promoting growth in infants on high protein intakes.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Axelsson, I., Ivarsson, S. & Raiha, N. Protein Intake in Early Infancy: Effects on Plasma Amino Acid Concentrations, Insulin Metabolism, and Growth. Pediatr Res 26, 614–615 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198912000-00020
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198912000-00020
This article is cited by
-
Milk: a postnatal imprinting system stabilizing FoxP3 expression and regulatory T cell differentiation
Clinical and Translational Allergy (2016)
-
Higher protein intake increases cardiac function parameters in healthy children: metabolic programming by infant nutrition—secondary analysis from a clinical trial
Pediatric Research (2016)
-
The potential mechanistic link between allergy and obesity development and infant formula feeding
Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology (2014)
-
Effect of an α-lactalbumin-enriched infant formula with lower protein on growth
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2011)
-
The effects of whole milk and infant formula on growth and IGF-I in late infancy
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2009)