Cardiovascular risk markers until 12 mo of age in infants fed a formula supplemented with bovine milk fat globule membranes.

Some of the health advantages of breast-fed as compared to formula-fed infants have been suggested to be due to metabolic programming effects resulting from early nutrition. In a prospective double-blinded randomized trial, 160 infants <2 mo of age were randomized to experimental formula (EF) with added milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) or standard formula (SF) until 6 mo of age. A breast-fed reference (BFR) group consisted of 80 infants. Measurements were made at inclusion and at 4, 6, and 12 mo of age. During the intervention, the EF group had higher total serum cholesterol concentration than the SF group, reaching the level of the BFR group. The EF group had a low-density lipoprotein to high-density lipoprotein ratio not significantly different from the SF group but lower than the BFR group. Supplementation of infant formula with MFGM modified the fat composition of the formula and narrowed the gap between breast-fed and formula-fed infants with regard to serum lipid status at 12 mo.