Parenteral amino acid intakes: possible influences of higher intakes on growth and bone status in preterm infants

Objective:to study the possible influences of amino acid (aa) intakes on growth and bone status in preterms.study design:newborns, weighing <1250 g, received standard (s) or higher (h) parenteral aa intakes (3 or 4 g kg−1 per day). anthropometry, biochemistry and quantitative ultrasound (metacarpus bone transmission time (mcbtt), in μs) were measured prospectively.result:a total of 55 patients in group s and 60 in group h were studied. significantly better growth rate was found in the h group during the study without signs of intolerance. we found a significant decrease in mcbtt from birth to 21 days in the h group; nonetheless, mcbtt at 36 weeks of gestational age significantly positively correlated with early aa and energy intakes. a significant positive correlation between mcbtt and lower limb length (lll) at 21 days was found.conclusion:early higher aa intakes improved growth without short-term aa intolerance. nutritional parameters could influence bone growth. lll was the anthropometric parameter that best correlated to bone status.