Early Energy Intake and Amino Acid Profile in Preterm Newborns. A Quasi-Experimental Study

(1) Background: An increased protein intake via parenteral nutrition (PN) in early life is associated with an improvement of the nitrogen balance in preterm newborns. However, the role of energy intake on amino acid (AA) utilization provided by PN remains to be defined. We investigated the effects of energy intake on blood AA levels and profiles. (2) Methods: Quasi-experimental study including preterm very low birth weight newborns who received an energy enhanced PN (Cohort A) or an energy standard PN (Cohort B), with a similar protein amount in the first week of life. Blood AA levels were measured between three and seven days of life (T0) and at fifteen days of life (T1) and compared between the two study cohorts. (3) Results: AA levels of 40 newborns from each group were analyzed. No difference was found for total essential and non-essential blood AA concentration at T0 between the two study cohorts. At T1, we found a significantly higher blood concentration of leucine, isoleucine and proline, and a significantly lower concentration of tyrosine in Cohort B. However, multivariate analysis did not confirm this result. (4) Conclusions: An enhanced PN protocol in terms of energy but not of protein did not influence AA levels and profiles. Considering the high risk of side effects, we suggest exercising caution when administering high energy intake via PN in the first week of life.