Lipidomics and Dietary Assessment of Infant Formulas Reveal High Intakes of Major Cholesterol Oxidative Product (7-ketocholesterol)

Abstract

AbstractApproximately two-thirds of US infants receive infant formula (IF) as a primary or sole nutritional source during the first six months of life. IF is available in a variety of commercial presentations, although from a manufacturing standpoint, they can be categorized in powder-(PIF) or liquid-(LIF) based formulations. Herein, thirty commercial IFs were analyzed in their oxidative and non-oxidative lipidomics profiles. Results show that LIFs have a characteristic lipidomic fingerprint, enriched in an oxidated form of cholesterol, and a lower load of phytosterols. We identified 7-ketocholesterol – a major end-product of cholesterol oxidation – as a potential biomarker of IF manufacturing. Our data allowed re-classification of IF based on their metabolomic fingerprint, resulting in three groups assigned with low-to-high oxidative status. Finally, we modeled the dietary intake for cholesterol, sterols, and 7-ketocholesterol in the first year of life. The database provided in this study will be instrumental for scientists interested in infant nutrition, to establish bases for epidemiological studies aimed to find connections between nutrition and diet-associated diseases, such as sitosterolemia.