Pediatric familial type II hyperlipoproteinemia: effects of diet on plasma cholesterol in the first year of life

Abstract

Effects of diet on plasma cholesterol were evaluated in the 1st year of life in infants with neonatal hypercholesteremia. In seven infants with neonatal familial type II hyperlipoproteinemia on normal cholesterol intake (cow’s milk formulas), mean plasma cholesterol increased from 114 at birth to 224 mg/100 ml at 6 months of age. On cholesterol-poor, polyunsaturate-rich formulas, mean plasma cholesterol in seven infants with neonatal familial type II (155 mg/l00 ml at birth) was 130 mg/100 ml at age 6 months. In the second 6 months of life, cholesterol-poor, polyunsaturate-rich diets maintained normal cholesterol levels in four infants with familial type II. Subsequent to diagnosis by measurement of cord blood cholesterol, plasma cholesterol can be normalized in the 1st year of life in the infant with familial type II. Evidence documenting the efficacy (or lack of it) of early normalization of cholesterol in the prevention of atherosclerosis remains to be obtained.