Dietary trans fatty acids in early life: a review

Trans fatty acids are unsaturated fatty acids with at least a double trans configuration, resulting in a more rigid molecule close to a saturated fatty acid. These appear in dairy fat because of ruminal activity, and in hydrogenated oils; margarines, shortenings and baked goods contain relatively high levels of trans fatty acids. These fatty acids can be incorporated into both fetal and adult tissues, although the transfer rate through the placenta continues to be a contradictory subject. In preterm infants and healthy term babies, trans isomers have been inversely correlated to infantile birth weight. However, in multigenerational studies using animals, there is no correlation between birth weight, growth, and dietary trans fatty acids. Maternal milk reflects precisely the daily dietary intake of trans fatty acids, from 2% to 5% of the total fatty acids in human milk. The level of linoleic acid in human milk is increased by a high trans diet, but long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids remain mostly unaffected. Likewise, infant tissues incorporate trans fatty acids from maternal milk, raising the level of linoleic acid and relatively decreasing arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acids. This suggests an inhibitory effect of trans fatty acid on liver Delta-6 fatty-acid desaturase activity. As opposed to blood and liver, the brain appears to be protected from the trans fatty-acid accumulation in experimental animals, but no data have yet been reported for human newborns. Further investigations in humans are needed to definitively establish the potential physiological consequences of trans fatty-acid intake during the neonatal period.