فهرست مطالب karim karbin

Breast milk composition is affected by several factors such as maternal diet and body mass index. Milk fats include a major calorie content of the milk, which changes dramatically throughout the lactation. The aim of the present study was to assess breast milk fatty acid profile in overweight and obese mothers and its correlations with maternal body mass index.

Milk samples were collected from 73 healthy lactating women referring to various health centers in Mashhad. Data were collected using food frequency questionnaire to assess the maternal dietary intakes. Breast milk fatty acid profile was assessed using gas chromatography.

Breast milk content of saturated fatty acids was higher in obese mothers than overweight mothers (p = 0.03) with positive correlations with maternal body mass index (r = 0.256; p = 0.037). Furthermore, breast milk monounsaturated fatty acids were negatively correlated with pre-pregnancy body mass index (r = -0.385; p = 0.003) and pre-pregnancy body weight (r = -0.276; p = 0.026). However, no significant correlations were observed between the maternal body fat mass and fat proportion with the breast milk fatty acids (p > 0.05). Moreover, no significant associations were seen between dietary saturated fatty acids, milk monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids with the corresponding fatty acids in breast milk (p > 0.05).

Based on the results, breast milk of the obese mothers included higher proportion of saturated fatty acids, while no significant differences were observed in the contents of milk monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids between the overweight and obese women. Furthermore, maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index was negatively correlated with the contents of milk monounsaturated fatty acids, while it was positively correlated with saturated fatty acids contents.

Sepsis is one of the major causes of high morbidity and mortality in intensive care units (ICU) and severe sepsis leads to some metabolic disorder. The previous studies indicate that l-carnitine deficiency in septic patients and causing mitochondria dysfunction and worsening metabolic disorder. Reducing mortality in sepsis by nutritional supplements may help mitigate the risk of clinical outcomes in sepsis patients. 

Our systematic search to find relevant studies was performed up to March 2020, using ISI Web of Science, Google Scholar, EMBASE, PubMed/MEDLINE and SCOPUS databases. In this systematic review, the aim was to assess whether l-carnitine or levocarnitine may reduce the risk of mortality in patients with sepsis. 

10 articles were included in our systematic review. The results of the review showed that plasma carnitine levels were significantly associated with the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score (SOFA) (p<0.001). On the other hand, other studies showed carnitine supplementation had no significant effect on SOFA score change in a short time, while carnitine deficiency was associated with significantly increased SOFA score in critically ill patients.  L-carnitine supplementation indicated a significant decline in 28 days’ mortality as well. 

 Evidencefrom limited data suggested that carnitine may helps to reduce mortality risk in sepsis patients, but further studies are required with different doses and durations.