COMPOSITIONS AND THEIR APPLICATION

Claims

1. An artificial nutritional composition containing a vitamin for stimulating, maintaining or optimizing primary myelination, in particular the trajectory of primary myelination, and / or brain structure and / or the density of neural connections and / or intellectual potential and / or cognitive potential and / or learning ability and / or cognitive function in a subject, in particular in a subject receiving infant formula, wherein brain structure is understood to mean the amount and / or spatial distribution of myelinated substance within the entire brain and / or specific areas of the brain, and wherein said cognitive function is optimized if the performance of said subject in a standardized test of neuropsychic development differs by less than one standard deviation from the performance of a subject exclusively breastfed by a fully nourished mother.

2. The artificial nutritional composition of claim 1, wherein the subject is a human infant or child, and preferably a human infant or child receiving infant formula.

3. An artificial nutritional composition according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said vitamin is vitamin B12 and / or folic acid.

4. An artificial nutritional composition according to claim 3, wherein said composition contains folic acid in an amount greater than 50 μg / 100 g dry weight of the composition and / or vitamin B12 in an amount greater than 0.01 μg / 100 g dry weight of the composition.

5. An artificial nutritional composition according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said composition further comprises one or more of the following ingredients: a mineral substance, and / or choline, and / or a phospholipid, and / or a fatty acid derivative, wherein said fatty acid derivative is a fatty acid-containing compound other than a phospholipid.

6. An artificial nutritional composition according to claim 5, wherein said mineral substance is selected from the group consisting of iron, zinc, calcium, phosphorus, copper and combinations thereof; wherein said fatty acid derivative comprises docosahexaenoic acid and / or arachidonic acid and / or stearic acid and / or nervonic acid, and wherein said phospholipid is a compound of formula (I) or a mixture of compounds of formula (I) (I), Where R 1 represents O; X represents NH or O; R 2 is a saturated or unsaturated linear or branched C2–C44 acyl group; R 3 is a substituent of formula (II) or formula (III): (II) (III), where R5 is a saturated or unsaturated linear or branched C2–C44 acyl group, and R 6 is a saturated C2–C44 alkyl or alkenyl group; and R 4 selected from; a C5 or C6 substituted or unsubstituted cyclic alkyl or alkenyl group, or –(CH2)n–R 7 , where n is an integer in the range from 1 to 4, in particular from 1 to 2, and R 7 represents –N(CH3)3+, NH3+, or a substituent of formula (IV), and (IV), in particular, R 4 is a C6 cyclic alkyl or alkyl or alkenyl group substituted by one or more hydroxyl groups.

7. The artificial nutritional composition of claim 6, wherein the phospholipid is sphingomyelin, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylserine, and any mixture of the foregoing.

8. An artificial nutritional composition according to claim 6 or 7, wherein if said composition contains iron, its content is more than 5 mg / 100 g dry weight of the composition, and if the composition contains sphingomyelin, its content is more than 300 mg / kg dry weight of the composition, and if the composition contains a fatty acid derivative containing DHA, its content is from 60 to 350 mg / 100 g dry weight of the composition, and if the composition contains a fatty acid derivative containing arachidonic acid, its content is from 60 to 350 mg / 100 g dry weight of the composition.

9. An artificial nutritional composition according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said composition is a composition selected from the group consisting of: infant formula, milk formula for children from 1 to 3 years of age, a composition for infants that is intended to be added to or diluted with human breast milk, and a food product intended for consumption by an infant and / or child in pure form or in combination with human breast milk.

10. The use of an artificial nutritional composition according to any of the preceding claims for promoting, maintaining or optimizing primary myelination, in particular the trajectory of primary myelination, and / or brain structure and / or the density of neural connections and / or intellectual potential and / or cognitive potential and / or learning ability and / or cognitive function in a human infant or child, in particular in an infant or child receiving infant formula, wherein brain structure is understood to mean the amount and / or spatial distribution of myelinated matter within the entire brain and / or specific areas of the brain, and wherein said cognitive function is optimized if the performance of said subject in a standardized test of neuropsychological development differs by less than one standard deviation from the performance of a subject exclusively breastfed by a fully nourished mother.

11. The use of a vitamin for stimulating, maintaining or optimizing primary myelination, in particular the trajectory of primary myelination, and / or brain structure and / or neuronal connectivity density and / or intellectual potential and / or cognitive potential and / or learning ability and / or cognitive function in a human infant or child, in particular in an infant or child receiving infant formula, wherein, in particular, said vitamin is vitamin B12 and / or folic acid, and wherein brain structure is understood to mean the amount and / or spatial distribution of myelinated matter within the entire brain and / or specific areas of the brain, and wherein said cognitive function is optimized,if the said subject's performance on a standardized test of neurodevelopmental ability differs by less than one standard deviation from the performance of a subject exclusively breastfed by a fully nourished mother., 12. The use according to claim 11, wherein said vitamin is administered to the subject separately, sequentially and / or simultaneously with one or more of the following ingredients: choline, a mineral substance, in particular iron and / or zinc and / or calcium and / or phosphorus and / or magnesium and / or copper, a fatty acid derivative containing docosahexaenoic acid and / or arachidonic acid and / or nervonic acid and / or stearic acid and / or a phospholipid, wherein said phospholipid is a compound of formula (I) according to claim 6.

13. A method for stimulating, maintaining, or optimizing primary myelination, in particular the trajectory of primary myelination, and / or brain structure, and / or neural connectivity density, and / or intellectual potential, and / or cognitive potential, and / or learning ability, and / or cognitive function in a subject, said method comprising administering to said subject an artificial nutritional composition according to any one of claims 1 to 9 or a vitamin according to claims11 or 12, wherein the subject is a human infant or child, and more preferably a formula-fed human infant or child, and wherein the brain structure refers to the amount and / or spatial distribution of myelinated matter within the entire brain and / or specific areas of the brain, and wherein said cognitive function is optimized if said subject's performance on a standardized neurodevelopmental test differs by less than one standard deviation from the performance of a subject who is exclusively breastfed by a fully nourished mother.

14. The use of an artificial nutritional composition according to any of paragraphs 1–9 or a vitamin according to paragraph11 or 12 in the manufacture of an artificial nutritional composition for stimulating, maintaining or optimizing primary myelination, in particular the trajectory of primary myelination, and / or brain structure and / or the density of neural connections and / or intellectual potential and / or cognitive potential and / or learning ability and / or cognitive function in a human infant or child, in particular in a human infant or child receiving infant formula, wherein the brain structure is understood to mean the amount and / or spatial distribution of myelinated matter within the entire brain and / or specific areas of the brain, and wherein said cognitive function is optimized if the performance of said subject in a standardized test of neuropsychic development differs by less than one standard deviation from the performance of a subject exclusively breastfed by a fully nourished mother.

15. An artificial nutritional composition comprising a vitamin, in particular folic acid, and / or vitamin B12, and choline, and / or a mineral, in particular iron, and / or zinc, and / or copper, and / or magnesium, and / or calcium, and / or phosphorus, and / or a derivative of a fatty acid other than a phospholipid containing docosahexaenoic acid, and / or arachidonic acid, and / or nervonic acid, and / or stearic acid, and / or a phospholipid, its metabolic precursor or metabolite, in particular phosphatidylcholine, and / or phosphatidylserine, and / or phosphatidylinositol, and / or sphingomyelin, wherein if sphingomyelin is present in said composition, its content is at least 420 mg / kg, wherein if phosphatidylcholine is present in said composition, its content is at least at least 1000 mg / kg, and if the said composition contains phosphatidylserine, its content is at least 900 mg / kg,wherein, if phosphatidylinositol is present in said composition, its content is at least 700 mg / kg, wherein, if folic acid is present in said composition, its content is at least 160 mg / kg, wherein, if vitamin B12 is present in said composition, its content is at least 7 μg / 100 g, wherein, if iron is present in said composition, its content is at least 11.5 mg / 100 g, wherein, if choline is present in said composition, its content is at least 140 mg / kg, wherein, if a fatty acid derivative containing DHA is present in said composition, its content is at least 89 mg / 100 g, wherein, if a fatty acid derivative containing AA is present in said composition, its content is at least 175 mg / 100 g, wherein, if zinc is present in said composition, its content is at least 7 mg / 100 g,wherein all weights are based on the dry weight of the composition, and wherein said composition is a composition selected from the group consisting of: infant formula, infant formula for children aged 1 to 3 years, an infant formula that is intended to be added to or diluted with human breast milk, and a food product intended for consumption by an infant and / or child alone or in combination with human breast milk.

16. An artificial nutritional composition comprising a mineral substance, in particular iron and / or zinc and / or copper and / or magnesium and / or calcium and / or phosphorus and choline and / or a vitamin, in particular folic acid and / or vitamin B12 and / or a derivative of a fatty acid other than a phospholipid containing docosahexaenoic acid and / or arachidonic acid and / or nervonic acid and / or stearic acid and / or a phospholipid, in particular phosphatidylcholine and / or phosphatidylserine and / or phosphatidylinositol and / or sphingomyelin and / or a metabolic precursor or metabolite of any of the above, wherein if sphingomyelin is present in said composition, its content is at least 300 mg / kg, wherein if folic acid is present in said composition its acid content is at least 100 μg / kg, and if the said composition contains vitamin B12, its content is at least 5 μg / 100 g,wherein, if iron is present in said composition, its content is at least 5 mg / 100 g, wherein, if a fatty acid derivative containing DHA is present in said composition, its content is at least 60 to 350 mg / 100 g, wherein, if a fatty acid derivative containing AA is present in said composition, its content is at least 60 to 350 mg / 100 g, wherein all weights are based on the dry weight of the composition, and wherein said composition is a composition selected from the group consisting of; an infant formula, a milk formula for children aged 1 to 3 years, a composition for infants that is intended to be added to or diluted with human breast milk, and a food product intended for consumption by an infant and / or child in pure form or in combination with human breast milk.

17. An artificial nutritional composition according to claim 15, wherein said composition comprises a fatty acid derivative containing DHA at a concentration of 1023 mg / kg, a fatty acid derivative containing arachidonic acid (ARA) at a concentration of 1023 mg / kg, vitamin B12 at a concentration of 54 mcg / kg, folic acid at a concentration of 1698 mcg / kg, sphingomyelin at a concentration of 814 mcg / kg and iron at a concentration of 67 mg / kg.

18. A composition containing a vitamin for improving vision, motor function, including coordination and performance of movements in a subject, wherein said vitamin is vitamin B12 and / or folic acid.