Abstract
Apart from lifestyle factors and genetic disposition, accumulating evidence shows the importance of early life environmental factors, particularly nutrition, in later life health (“nutritional programming”). The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate whether milk lipid quality in early life contributes to later life metabolic health and disease risk. We investigated whether moderate changes in fatty acid (FA) composition and physical lipid structure of the early postnatal diet could protect against later life obesity in a mouse model for nutritional programming.
Our data showed that manipulation of the FA composition during infancy and childhood, either by decreasing relative amounts of dietary n-6 poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) or by increasing n-3 long chain PUFA, protected against excessive fat accumulation in adulthood in mice. Apart from the fatty acid composition, also the physical structure of dietary lipids “programmed” later life metabolic health: early postnatal exposure to large, phospholipid-coated lipid droplets, as present in human milk, protected mice against excessive body fat accumulation in adulthood.
Taken together, our data emphasize the importance of dietary lipid quality in early life with respect to programming of adult metabolic health. If the present findings in rodents can be confirmed in humans, novel strategies could be developed to adapt infant nutrition by changing dietary lipid quality as a targeted approach to prevent obesity and improve lifelong health.
Our data showed that manipulation of the FA composition during infancy and childhood, either by decreasing relative amounts of dietary n-6 poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) or by increasing n-3 long chain PUFA, protected against excessive fat accumulation in adulthood in mice. Apart from the fatty acid composition, also the physical structure of dietary lipids “programmed” later life metabolic health: early postnatal exposure to large, phospholipid-coated lipid droplets, as present in human milk, protected mice against excessive body fat accumulation in adulthood.
Taken together, our data emphasize the importance of dietary lipid quality in early life with respect to programming of adult metabolic health. If the present findings in rodents can be confirmed in humans, novel strategies could be developed to adapt infant nutrition by changing dietary lipid quality as a targeted approach to prevent obesity and improve lifelong health.
| Original language | English |
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| Qualification | Doctor of Philosophy |
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| Award date | 14-May-2014 |
| Place of Publication | [S.l.] |
| Publisher | |
| Print ISBNs | 978-90-6464-773-4 |
| Electronic ISBNs | 978-90-367-7060-6 |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |