The effect of early childhood nutrition may be mediated by excess body weight in adulthood, as this is a risk factor for hypertension. Breastfeeding (Breastfeeding) creates only a moderate protective effect against excess body weight in adulthood, therefore, a significant effect through this mechanism is unlikely.
Total cholesterol and lipoprotein levels are a significant factor in cardiac risk. It is believed that these indicators can be programmed by events from early childhood, in particular the intensity of growth and feeding in infancy.
Analysis of this relationship showed that the average level of total cholesterol in infancy was higher in children who were on HB, but in adults who were breastfed, it was lower. In the WHO meta, which included 23 out of 37 known publications on this topic, no association between hepatitis B and cholesterol levels at a later age was found at all, which is due, in particular, to the heterogeneity of these studies, caused primarily by the age difference. And yet, when analyzing data on adults over 19 years old, it turned out that the average cholesterol level in people who were breastfed was 0.18 mmol / l lower than that of those who were artificially fed. When analyzing similar data on children and adolescents, no statistically significant association was found. Further subgroup analysis showed that cholesterol levels were lower when HS lasted more than 3 years, but the results were not statistically significant. This meta-analysis shows that the association between HBs and cholesterol levels is age dependent. In children and adolescents, the effect of HS on this indicator was not observed, but the level of cholesterol in adults who were breastfed was lower and amounted to 5.7 mmol / l, which was 3.2% lower than that in persons who were artificially fed.
Possible defense mechanisms.
The cholesterol content of breast milk is significantly higher than that found in most commercial breast milk substitutes. High cholesterol intake in infancy may have a long-term effect of programming cholesterol synthesis by downregulating hydroxymethyl glutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA). This hypothesis is supported by experimental studies in which high exposure to cholesterol in young animals was accompanied by a decrease in blood cholesterol levels at a later age. Thus, the programming of the lipid profile of high cholesterol in breast milk has been proposed to be considered as a potential mechanism of the association between the duration of hepatitis B and low cholesterol at a later age.
