Almost 3,000 very low birth weight (<1500 grams) preterm infants are born and cared for in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) in Canada every year. Because of their prematurity, these infants require help in order to survive. These infants are very vulnerable to serious illnesses, such as chronic diseases of the lungs, intestines, eyes, and brain as well as serious infections which can cause death or long term effects after going home.
Most preterm infants do not receive enough compounds that are known to help provide protection against developing some of these serious illnesses. One compound that has been found to be of importance is in human milk and is called “lactoferrin”. It is an iron-containing protein found not only in human milk but also in milk from mammals. Lactoferrin and other compounds in human milk help create an environment for growth of beneficial bacteria in the infant’s gut which prevents “bad bacteria” from growing. Because small preterm infants do not receive enough of this protective compound from the human milk or formula they are fed, the addition of lactoferrin as a supplement to the infant’s feed on a daily basis is being considered.
However, because human lactoferrin is very expensive and difficult to produce and obtain other forms of lactoferrin are being considered. Bovine lactoferrin, coming from cows, is thought to be the optimal supplement because of its close chemical structure to human lactoferrin. The purpose of this study is to find out whether adding bovine lactoferrin once daily compared to not adding it, will have an effect on death or major illnesses of prematurity such as chronic lung disease, infections, necrotizing enterocolitis (a serious condition causing gut inflammation) or serious changes to the developing eye called retinopathy of prematurity.
The study treatment will be started within the first week of life until the infant reached 34 weeks corrected gestation. At 24 months corrected age, infants will have a neurodevelopmental assessment that will look at the child’s cognitive, language, and motor skills. In addition, information on additional motor, vision and hearing skills will be gathered.