Every year, millions of preterm infants and neonates worldwide survive on parenteral nutrition (PN), which delivers nutrients intravenously when the gut cannot digest food normally.
Lipid emulsions are essential to these therapies, providing fatty acids and dense calories without fluid overload.
However, conventional PN emulsions are known to impair immunity and trigger inflammation that can harm early brain development and lifetime neurological health.
New research published in Current Developments in Nutrition sheds light on how a plant-based lipid emulsion containing Ahiflower oil (Vegaven) supports metabolic and developmental processes in the neonatal brain.
The study shows that shorter-chain omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in Ahiflower oil (ALA, SDA and GLA) prevent neuroinflammation caused by lipopolysaccharide "leakage" from the gut, promoting the energy metabolism and growth signalling critical to a developing brain.
Notably, Vegaven fully reversed the adverse effects of a conventional PN emulsion.
Dr Michael Zaugg and Dr Eliana Lucchinetti of the University of Alberta developed Vegaven and compared it with SMOFlipid, the standard-of-care fish oil-based emulsion.
Using a neonatal piglet model that mirrors human brain development, they identified the mechanisms behind these benefits.
"Our findings go beyond simply measuring fatty acid levels in the brain," said Dr Zaugg. "We measured growth signalling pathways linked to insulin and insulin-like growth factor, and the supply of energy fuels to the growing brain."
"PN with Vegaven provided significantly more energy substrates, keeping the brain metabolically active and supporting neurodevelopment, whereas fish oil-based SMOFlipid led to energy stress that promoted harmful catabolic events and inhibited growth."
Greg Cumberford, Science Lead at Natures Crops International, said the research clarifies how Ahiflower oil's rich plant-derived fatty acids support brain development.
Physiological formation of long-chain DHA and ARA from these shorter precursors offers major advantages without the trade-offs of whole-body inflammation and insulin resistance, he noted.
Earlier research from the same group found bioactive lipid mediators generated from these precursors enhance immunity and anabolic processes.
Together, the findings suggest Ahiflower oil, nature's richest source of omega-3, delivers anti-inflammatory and insulin-sensitising benefits that support healthy growth and development, expanding the toolkit for clinical and specialised nutrition.
"These discoveries reinforce that gaps in omega-3 nutrition, whether critical as in PN or healthspan-related in everyday diets, can be met from plant-based sources that complement marine omega-3s," said Cumberford.
