Yes, another patent.  Now this patent would be great to present next to the
Lucas group's study!  This is patent #  5631271 called  "Methods and
preparations for the treatment and prophylaxis of metabolic disturbances."
According to this patent elevated homocysteine levels in the blood of adults
is related to vascular and neurological disease.  They started measuring the
serum of newborn and premature infants and where shocked to find relatively
high homocysteine levels.  But the patent goes on to say:

"It was found that in ideal circumstances healthy infants, from healthy
mothers and wholly breast fed are protected naturally against elevated
homocysteine levels, a fact which indirectly confirms the danger residing in
homocysteine. In healthy new-born infants plasma levels of pyridoxal, vitamin
B12 and folate were found to be considerably higher than in adults. Applicant
has established that these high levels provide a natural protective mechanism
against accumulation of toxic homocysteine levels.

It was possible to correlate deficiencies in respect of one or more of the
aforegoing with elevated homocysteine levels in the respective infants and
detect connections with genetic factors, with pre-natal and post-natal
maternal nutritional status (the latter being relevant to breast fed
infants). However, most alarming of all was the discovery of the extent to
which these elevated homocysteine levels can be ascribed to bottle feeding
with non-human milk and milk formulae based on cow's milk. A careful
assessment of certain differences between human and non-human milk has
revealed plausible causes for the prevalence of homocysteineaemia amongst
infants. In particular, cow's milk contains 4 times more methionine than
mother's milk yet is lacking proportionally in factors which would prevent or
counteract the transformation of this excessive amount of methionine into
homocysteine.

Fraying and splitting of the vascular internal elastic membranes has been
observed as a clinical symptom of elevated homocysteine levels in adults.
This same symptom was described by Jaffe in 176 babies who had died of
different causes during their first 3 months of life. Sudden infant death
syndrome has been found to be particularly common amongst bottle-fed babies.

The vascular damage caused by homocysteine is well established. Research has
shown that this kind of damage is the primary cause of and precondition for
subsequent vascular damage by cholesterol. Research has further revealed that
cholesterol only becomes dangerous once it has been oxidised to
oxycholesterol, either in the diet or in vivo. This is brought about by the
intervention of free radicals. In this context it is particularly alarming
that homocysteine itself is a known stimulant for free radical induced
oxidation of lipoproteins, including that of cholesterol-rich lipoproteins,
this besides other harmful effects of free radicals in vivo. Moreover, in a
manner to be explained further below, thermally processed bottle feed
products are themselves rich in oxycholesterol but are deficient in
counteracting substances present in human milk,

Even if the adverse factors described above, in particular elevated
homocysteine result in no immediately apparent symptoms, they may predispose
to atherosclerosis in later life.

The damage caused by homocysteine in infants is obviously not limited to the
vascular system but may include many other tissues and systems including the
central nervous system, which is particularly vulnerable at this stage.

The invention is inter alia based on the discovery of the above described
hitherto unknown problem and seeks solutions to this and/or related problems.

The present invention is based on extensive research which has brought to
light a large number of clinical or pathological conditions in animals or man
associated with depressed or inadequate intracellular pyridoxal phosphate
levels, resulting from factors whereby the pyridoxine-pyridoxal phosphate
pathway is disturbed or rendered insufficient. "

This isn't the only patent or research I have seen that connects high levels
of homocysteine to vascular disease.  But the first I have ever seen in
relationship to infants.  Funny how these studies never see the light of
day--probably cause parents might use them to sue the infant formula
companies!  Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC

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