Development of visual acuity in relation to plasma and erythrocyte omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids in healthy term gestation infants

The development of preferential looking acuity was studied prospectively to 3 mo of age in exclusively breast-fed and formula-fed term gestation infants. The formula contained (% of total fatty acids) 17.9 linoleic acid (18:2 [omega] -6) and 2.1% [alpha]-linolenic acid (18:3 [omega] -3) but no docosahexaenoic acid (22:6 [omega] -3) or arachidonic acid (20:4 [omega] -6). The breast milk contained (x [+ or -] SEM) 13.4 [+ or -] 0.8% 18:2 [omega] -6, 1.5 [+ or -] 0.1% 18:3 [omega] -3, 0.51 [+ or -] 0.03% 20:4 [omega] -6, and 0.22 [+ or -] 0.02% 22:6 [omega] -3. Preferential looking acuity, assessed by the acuity-card procedure, and plasma phospholipid and erythrocyte phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine fatty acids were determined at 14 d and 3 mo of age. There were no significant differences in acuity at 14 d or 3 mo, despite substantial differences in erythrocyte and plasma lipid 22:6 [omega] -3. Visual acuity was [x (cycles/degree) [+ or -] SD (octaves)] 3.93 [+ or -] 0.54 and 4.77 [+ or -] 0.48 and erythrocyte phosphatidylethanolamine %22:6 [omega] -3 was (x [+ or ] SE) 7.6 [+ or -] 0.5 and 4.0 [+ or -] 0.2 in the 3-mo-old breast-fed and formula-fed infants, respectively These studies show that feeding formula containing 2.1% 18:3 [omega] -3 ([is nearly equal to] 1.0% energy) results in development of visual acuity similar to breast-feeding in term infants to [greater than or equal to] 3 mo of age. Am J Clin Nutr 1994;60:347-52.