Reid, J.Makrides, M.McPhee, A.Stark, M.Miller, J.Collins, C.2018-09-032018-09-032018Nutrients, 2018; 10(5):1-122072-66432072-6643http://hdl.handle.net/2440/114152The aim of this study was to assess the effect of feeding high protein human milk fortifier (HMF) on growth in preterm infants. In this single-centre randomised trial, 60 infants born 28⁻32 weeks' gestation were randomised to receive a higher protein HMF providing 1.8 g protein (n = 31) or standard HMF providing 1 g protein per 100 mL expressed breast milk (EBM) (n = 29). The primary outcome was rate of weight gain. Baseline characteristics were similar between groups. There was no difference between high and standard HMF groups for weight gain (mean difference (MD) -14 g/week; 95% CI -32, 4; p = 0.12), length gain (MD -0.01 cm/week; 95% CI -0.06, 0.03; p = 0.45) or head circumference gain (MD 0.007 cm/week; 95% CI -0.05, 0.06; p = 0.79), despite achieving a 0.7 g/kg/day increase in protein intake in the high protein group. Infants in the high protein group had a higher proportion of lean body mass at trial entry; however, there was no group by time effect on lean mass gains over the study. Increasing HMF protein content to 1.8 g per 100 mL EBM does not improve growth in preterm infants born 28⁻32 weeks' gestation.en© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).growthhuman milkhuman milk fortifierlow birth weightJournal article003008705810.3390/nu100506340004351960001082-s2.0-85047317030420170Reid, J. [0000-0001-8066-7259]Makrides, M. [0000-0003-3832-541X]McPhee, A. [0000-0003-3820-5696]Stark, M. [0000-0001-5518-1580] [0000-0003-1835-8679]Collins, C. [0000-0003-3308-9948]