Polynsaturated and essential fatty acids in malnourished children

The fatty acid (FA) compositions of the plasma phospholipid (PL) and cholesterolester fractions (CE) were estimated in 18 malnourished (age 6 to 42 months; median 24 months) and 20 well nourished (age 12 to 60 months, median 27 months) Sudanese children. Compared with the control group malnourished children showed lower levels of linoleic acid in CE (38.80%±8.66 vs. 48.65%±3.92; mean ±SD; p<0.001) and arachidonic acid in PL (10.92%±2.24 vs. 13.49%±2.40; mean ±SD; p<0.005). The patterns of major fatty acids were altered in both lipid fractions of malnourished children. Increased saturated and monoenoic fatty acids and decreased polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) of the (n-6)-series were found. With respect to (n-3)-FA no differences were observed. Altered correlations between the most important (n-6)-FA point to an impairment of PUFA metabolism in malnourished children. However, the decreased levels of linoleic acid and arachidonic acid, found in malnourished Sudanese children are still in the range of values from normally nourished children in Europe, North America and Central Africa. It is concluded that the disturbances of FA-metabolism in malnourished children will not lead to a relevant deficiency of PUFA in regions will a commonly high nutritional supply of polyunsaturated fatty acids, but they may be of importance in regions where the supply with PUFA is low. © 1992 Pergamon Press Ltd. All rights reserved.