Abstract: The rapid growth of infant brains places an exceptionally high demand on the supply of nutrients from the diet, particularly for preterm infants. Sialic acid is an essential component of brain gangliosides and the poly sialic acid chains that modify neural cell adhesion molecules. Sialic acid levels are high in human breast milk, predominately existing as N-acetyl neuraminic acid. In contrast, infant formulas contain a low level of sialic acid consisting of both N-acetyl neuraminic acid and N-glycolylneuraminic acid. N-glycolylneuraminic acid is implicated in some human in?ammatory diseases. Therefore, this article introduces readers to the distribution of sialic acid in human milk, cow’s milk and infant formula milk, the source of pure N-acetylneuraminic acid sialic acid and the effect of sialic acid on infant health, so as to provide a scientific basis for reducing the gap between formula milk and infant nutritional requirements.

Key words: sialic acid; N-acetyl neuraminic acid; infant formula; human milk; infant health

摘要： 婴儿大脑的快速发育对膳食中营养物质的供应有极高需求，尤其是早产儿。唾液酸是脑神经节苷脂和修饰神经细胞黏附分子的聚唾液酸链的重要成分。人乳唾液酸含量较高，主要形式为N-乙酰神经氨酸。相比之下，婴儿配方乳粉中含有低水平的唾液酸，包括N-乙酰神经氨酸和N-羟乙酰神经氨酸，N-羟乙酰神经氨酸与一些人类炎症性疾病有关。本文综述唾液酸在人乳、牛乳及婴幼儿配方乳中的分布、纯N-乙酰神经氨酸唾液酸的来源以及唾液酸对婴幼儿健康影响的研究进展，为缩小配方乳与婴幼儿营养需求的差异提供科学依据。

关键词: 唾液酸；N-乙酰神经氨酸；婴幼儿配方乳；人乳；婴幼儿健康