Frieda Handayani Kawanto¹, Bertram Fong², Rebecca Cannan², Fatima Safira Alatas¹, Selly Mulyadi³, Yolin Marlisa³, Miftakh Nur Rahman³, Agus Firmasyah^1,

Gangliosides are major components in the human brain. The incorporation of gangliosides into the developing human brain is rapid, increasing from the third trimester through to the first 4-5 years of life, coinciding with the neuronal and glial differentiation and maturation process. It is generally accepted that breast-fed infants consume higher levels of gangliosides than formula-fed infants. However, the dietary ganglioside intake status at the toddler age period is unclear, given that toddlers are still going through a rapid growth and learning phase. The aim of this study was to provide an understanding of the dietary ganglioside sources and intakes for a cross-section of Indonesian toddlers and to determine any correlation with their serum ganglioside concentrations. Toddlers (150) were recruited from the Pejaten, South Jakarta, region. The dietary ganglioside intake was determined from food intake data collected over 2 days using a food frequency questionnaire. The ganglioside levels in the food and the blood were determined using a high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method. The average dietary ganglioside intake and the serum ganglioside content of Indonesian toddlers were 6.13 ± 0.56 mg/day and 13.2 ± 3.3 mg/L respectively. Growing-up milk powders contributed 71.8% of the daily total ganglioside intake, and major dietary ganglioside contributor. [1] No positive correlation was observed between the dietary ganglioside intake and the serum ganglioside concentration over the 2-day study period. Long term dietary and intervention studies are required to provide a clearer picture of the impact of dietary gangliosides on serum ganglioside levels.

ganglioside, Indonesian toddler, dietary intake