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

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