Fish oil lipid emulsion of little neurodevelopmental benefit in ELBW infants
20 Oct 2022
Premature babies are prone to birth-related complications, with effects running well into their lives if they do not first succumb to death.In infants born with extremely low birth weight (ELBW), parenteral nutrition supplement using a mixed lipid emulsion containing fish oil does not result in neurodevelopmental or behavioural benefits at preschool age, a new study has found.
Researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of 206 children who were born with ELBW as infants. Participants in the active intervention arm received a mixed lipid emulsion containing soybean oil, medium-chain triglycerides, olive oil, and fish oil. Control comparators received a soybean oil-based emulsion.
Outcomes included anthropometry and scores in the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children II (KABC-II) and Child Behaviour Checklist 1.5–5 (CBCL 1.5–5). Outcome evaluations were conducted when children were 5.6 years of age using data from medical charts.
Those receiving the mixed, fish oil-containing lipid emulsion earned a median KABC-II score of 97.5, which was not statistically different from that in the soybean-oil comparators (median, 96; p=0.43). The same null outcome was reported for CBCL 1.5–5 scores (median, 37 vs 37; p=0.54).
Moreover, a Random Forest machine learning analysis found that the type of lipid emulsion intervention exerted no significant effect on cognitive and behavioural measures.
“Parenteral nutrition using a mixed lipid emulsion containing fish oil did not improve cognitive outcome and had no positive, but also no negative impact on child behaviour and growth of extremely low birth weight infants at 5.6 years of age,” the researchers said.