Efficient Enrichment of Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) in Mother’s Milk and in the Brain and Retina of the Offspring by Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC)-DHA in the Maternal Diet

Yalagala, Poorna C. R.; Sugasini, Dhavamani; Chantapim, Sutape; Caal, Karyna; Sun, Haijing; Nicastro, Sofia; Sargis, Robert M.; Gregg, Brigid; Subbaiah, Papasani V.

doi:10.3390/nu17111864

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Efficient Enrichment of Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) in Mother’s Milk and in the Brain and Retina of the Offspring by Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC)-DHA in the Maternal Diet

by

Poorna C. R. Yalagala

¹,

Dhavamani Sugasini

¹

,

Sutape Chantapim

¹,

Karyna Caal

²,

Haijing Sun

²,

Sofia Nicastro

²,

Robert M. Sargis

^1,3,

Brigid Gregg

^2,4

and

Papasani V. Subbaiah

^1,3,*

¹

Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA

²

Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

³

Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612, USA

⁴

Department and Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Nutrients 2025, 17(11), 1864; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17111864

Submission received: 19 April 2025 / Revised: 24 May 2025 / Accepted: 27 May 2025 / Published: 29 May 2025

(This article belongs to the Section Lipids)

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Abstract

Background: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is the most important fatty acid (FA) for the development and function of brain and retina. Mother’s milk is the predominant source of DHA for the baby’s postnatal life, and the omega 3 FA content of a mother’s diet is highly correlated with the cognitive and visual functions of the infant. However, clinical trials aimed at increasing the DHA content of mother’s milk and thereby improving infant cognitive function have been inconclusive. Methods: In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the molecular form of dietary DHA is important in enriching DHA in mother’s milk as well as in pup tissues. Lactating dams were fed defined diets containing DHA either in the form of triacylglycerol (TAG) or lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), and the FA composition of mother’s milk and pup tissues was determined on postnatal day 16. Results: The results showed that LPC-DHA was 5-fold more efficient than TAG-DHA in enriching milk DHA. Moreover, DHA content was increased by 31% in the brain, 56% in the retina, and 14% in the liver of the pups by LPC-DHA in the maternal diet, whereas no increases were observed with TAG-DHA. The DHA content of the pup adipose tissue, however, was increased equally by the DHA supplements. Conclusions: These results show that dietary LPC-DHA is a promising new strategy to increase milk DHA content and to potentially improve brain and retinal health in infants. This strategy may be more important in the care of premature infants who miss the critical prenatal period of DHA accretion in the last trimester of pregnancy.

Keywords: dietary omega 3 fatty acid; docosahexaenoic acid; lysophosphatidylcholine; triacylglycerol; milk; brain; retina; liver; adipose tissue

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MDPI and ACS Style

Yalagala, P.C.R.; Sugasini, D.; Chantapim, S.; Caal, K.; Sun, H.; Nicastro, S.; Sargis, R.M.; Gregg, B.; Subbaiah, P.V. Efficient Enrichment of Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) in Mother’s Milk and in the Brain and Retina of the Offspring by Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC)-DHA in the Maternal Diet. Nutrients 2025, 17, 1864. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17111864

AMA Style

Yalagala PCR, Sugasini D, Chantapim S, Caal K, Sun H, Nicastro S, Sargis RM, Gregg B, Subbaiah PV. Efficient Enrichment of Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) in Mother’s Milk and in the Brain and Retina of the Offspring by Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC)-DHA in the Maternal Diet. Nutrients. 2025; 17(11):1864. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17111864

Chicago/Turabian Style

Yalagala, Poorna C. R., Dhavamani Sugasini, Sutape Chantapim, Karyna Caal, Haijing Sun, Sofia Nicastro, Robert M. Sargis, Brigid Gregg, and Papasani V. Subbaiah. 2025. "Efficient Enrichment of Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) in Mother’s Milk and in the Brain and Retina of the Offspring by Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC)-DHA in the Maternal Diet" Nutrients 17, no. 11: 1864. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17111864

APA Style

Yalagala, P. C. R., Sugasini, D., Chantapim, S., Caal, K., Sun, H., Nicastro, S., Sargis, R. M., Gregg, B., & Subbaiah, P. V. (2025). Efficient Enrichment of Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) in Mother’s Milk and in the Brain and Retina of the Offspring by Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC)-DHA in the Maternal Diet. Nutrients, 17(11), 1864. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17111864

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Efficient Enrichment of Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) in Mother’s Milk and in the Brain and Retina of the Offspring by Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC)-DHA in the Maternal Diet

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