Effects of Docosahexaenoic and Arachidonic Acid on Visual and Cognitive Function of Premature Infants / 中山大学学报(医学科学版)

ABSTRACT

【Objective】 To study the effects of docosahexaenoic ac id (DHA) and arachidonic acid (AA) intake on the visual and cognitive function o f preterm infants. 【Methods】 32 preterm infants (gestational age<37 weeks) wer e divided into three groups which were fed with different formula respectively group A, breast milk(n=11); group B, a conventional formula lacking DHA and AA (n=10); group C, DHA and AA enriched formula (n=11). Group C was stop ped to fed enriched formula when infant's weight reached (2.50±0.10) kg. Cognitiv e function was evaluated by NBNA test when the corrected age of each preterm inf ant was 42 week±7 day, ERG of both eyes was tested at three-months old. The ex periment lasted for three months. 【Results】 Cognitive and visual function of g roup C were similar to group A, however, some indexes of group B were significan tly lower than group A and C (P<0.05). 【Conclusion】 Adding DHA and AA to f ormulas similar to breast milk in amounts, can improve cognitive and visual func tion of preterm infants, and help these infants to achieve similar cognitive and visual function to those breast-milk-fed preterm infants.