Elsevier

The Journal of Pediatrics

Volume 95, Issue 6, December 1979, Pages 1043-1046
The Journal of Pediatrics

Plasma carnitine levels during intravenous feeding of the neonate1

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3476(79)80306-6Get rights and content

The premature infant has a limited capacity for fatty acid oxidation. This study shows that solutions commonly used for intravenous feedings in the newborn infant contain no carnitine. Infants maintained on this solution have significantly lower total, free, and acylcarnitine levels as compared to when they are fed orally with expressed human milk or a proprietary formula, which is known to contain carnitine. The exogenous supply of carnitine to the premature infant may have a significant influence on the ability to stimulate optimal fatty acid oxidation.

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1

Supported by Special Services Grant No. 7068 University of Alberta Hospital (D.S.): Medical Research Council of Canada Grant No. 686162 (P.H.)

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