Nutritional composition and infant formula for promoting myelination of the brain

1. A method to promote, support or optimize at least one of de novo myelination trajectory, brain structure, brain connectivity, intellectual potential, cognitive potential, or learning potential in a formula fed infant of 9 months of age or less in need thereof, the method comprising administering a synthetic nutritional composition comprising effective amounts of iron, sphingomyelin, folic acid, choline, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), arachidonic acid (ARA), and phosphatidylcholine to the formula fed infant of 9 months of age or less,

wherein the brain structure comprises an amount and/or a spatial distribution of myelinated matter throughout the brain and/or in specific brain regions, the DHA is selected from the group consisting of a monoacylglycerol, a diacylglycerol, a triacylglycerol and mixtures thereof, and

the DHA is in an amount of 100 to 350 mg/100 g dry weight of the synthetic nutritional composition, and the ARA is in an amount of 100-120 mg/100 g dry weight of the synthetic nutritional composition.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the formula fed infant of 9 months of age or less is human.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the ARA is in an amount of 100-110 mg/100 g dry weight of the synthetic nutritional composition.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the synthetic nutritional composition further comprises vitamin B12; an additional mineral selected from the group consisting of zinc, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, copper and combinations thereof; and an additional phospholipid that is a compound of formula (I) or a mixture of compounds of formula (I)

wherein:

R 1 is O;

X is NH or O;

R 2 is a C2-C44 saturated or unsaturated, linear or branched acyl group;

R 3 is a substituent of formula (II) or formula (III):

wherein R 5 is a C2-C44 saturated or unsaturated, linear or branched acyl group and

R 6 is a C2-C44 saturated alkyl or alkenyl group; and

R 4 is a C5 or C6 substituted or unsubstituted cyclic alkyl or alkenyl group or —(CH2)n-R 7 , wherein n is an integer ranging from 1 to 4, and R 7 is —N(CH3)3+, NH3+, or a substituent of formula (IV)

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the additional phospholipid is selected from the group consisting of phosphatidylinositole, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylethanolamine, sphingomyelin, and any mixture thereof.

6. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the iron is in an amount greater than 5 mg/100 g dry weight of the synthetic nutritional composition; the folic acid is in an amount greater than 100 mcg/100 g dry weight of the synthetic nutritional composition; the vitamin B12 is in an amount greater than 5 mcg/100 g dry weight of the synthetic nutritional composition; and the sphingomyelin is in an amount greater than 300 mg/kg dry weight of the synthetic nutritional composition.

7. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the synthetic nutritional composition consists of the iron, the sphingomyelin, the folic acid, the choline, the DHA, the ARA, and the phosphatidylcholine, the vitamin B12, the additional mineral selected from the group consisting of zinc, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, copper and combinations thereof, and the additional phospholipid that is a compound of formula (I) or a mixture of compounds of formula (I)

wherein:

R 1 is O;

X is NH or O;

R 2 is a C2-C44 saturated or unsaturated, linear or branched acyl group;

R 3 is a substituent of formula (II) or formula (III):

wherein R 5 is a C2-C44 saturated or unsaturated, linear or branched acyl group and

R 6 is a C2-C44 saturated alkyl or alkenyl group; and

R 4 is a C5 or C6 substituted or unsubstituted cyclic alkyl or alkenyl group or —(CH2)n-R 7 , wherein n is an integer ranging from 1 to 4, and R 7 is —N(CH3)3+, NH3+, or a substituent of formula (IV)

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the synthetic nutritional composition is in a form selected from the group consisting of an infant formula, a composition for infants that is intended to be added or diluted with human breast milk, and a food stuff intended for consumption by an infant either alone or in combination with human breast milk.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the synthetic nutritional composition comprises an additional fatty acid derivative selected from the group consisting of a monoacylglycerol, a diacylglycerol, a triacylgylcerol and a cholesterol ester, and the additional fatty acid derivative comprises at least one of arachidonic acid, nervonic acid, or stearic acid.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the DHA is in an amount of 100 to 120 mg/100 g of the synthetic nutritional composition.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the DHA is in an amount of 100 to 110 mg/100 g of the synthetic nutritional composition.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the choline is in an amount of greater than 30 mg/100 g dry weight of the synthetic nutritional composition.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the synthetic nutritional composition further comprise greater than 0.08 mg zinc/100 g dry weight of the synthetic nutritional composition.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the phosphatidylcholine is in an amount of greater than 200 mg/kg dry weight of the synthetic nutritional composition.

15. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the DHA is in an amount of 100 to 200 mg/100 g of the synthetic nutritional composition.

16. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the synthetic nutritional composition consists of the iron, the sphingomyelin, the folic acid, the choline, the DHA, the ARA, and the phosphatidylcholine.

17. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the synthetic nutritional composition further comprises stearic acid.

18. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the synthetic nutritional composition further comprises saturated long chain fatty acids, and a ratio of the total weight of DHA and ARA to the total weight of the saturated long chain fatty acids is from 1:1 to 1:10.