Abstract

BackgroundThe relationship between human milk oligosaccharides (HMO) and child growth has been investigated only insufficiently with ambiguous results. Therefore, this study examines potential influencing factors of HMO concentrations and how HMO are associated with child growth parameters.MethodsMilk samples from the German LIFE Child cohort of healthy children were analyzed for 9 HMO. Putative associations with maternal and child cofactors and child height, head circumference and BMI between 3 months and 7 years of age were examined. Secretor status, defined as the presence of 2′-fucosyllactose, was investigated for associations with infant outcomes.ResultsOur population consisted of 21 (14.7%) non-secretor and 122 (85.3%) secretor mothers. Maternal age was significantly associated with higher 3′SL concentrations; gestational age was associated with LNT, 6′SL and LNFP-I. Pre-pregnancy BMI was negatively associated with LNnT only in non-secretors. The growth velocity of non-secretors’ children was inversely associated with LNnT at 3 months to 1 year (R = 0.95 [0.90, 0.99], p = 0.014), 1 to 2 years (R = 0.80 [0.72, 0.88], p < 0.001) and 5 to 6 years (R = 0.71 [0.57, 0.87], p = 0.002). 2’FL was negatively associated with BMI consistently, reaching statistical significance at 3 months and 4 and 5 years. Children of non-secretors showed higher BMI at 3 months, 6 months, and 3, 6, and 7 years of age.ConclusionWe found that some associations between HMO and infant growth may extend beyond the infancy and breastfeeding periods. They highlight the importance of both maternal and infant parameters in the understanding of the underlying associations.Trial registrationThe study is registered with ClinicalTrial.gov: NCT02550236.

Highlights

  • Human milk is being explored intensively to understand its composition and physiological role for the breastfed infant

  • human milk oligosaccharides (HMO) are composed of 5 different monosaccharides (Glc, Glucose; GlcNAc, N-Acetylglucosamine; Gal, Galactose; Fuc, Fucose; Neu5Ac, N-Acetylneuraminic acid), which are linked together via glycosidic bonds [6] to produce a wide variety of different structures [7]

  • Pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) was negatively associated with LNnT in Mothers who are Non-Secretors (NSM) (R = 0.93 [0.90,0.97], p < 0.001); no association was found in Mothers who are Secretors (SM)

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Summary

Introduction

Human milk is being explored intensively to understand its composition and physiological role for the breastfed infant. Only 1 study has investigated the association between HMO and growth beyond infancy [12]. HMO are indigestible but can be fermented at least partly by the infant’s microbiome [16,17,18] They support the maturation of the gastrointestinal tract and the immune system and can protect against the colonization of pathogenic microorganisms by inhibiting their anchoring to human epithelial cells [19,20,21,22]. The relationship between human milk oligosaccharides (HMO) and child growth has been investigated only insufficiently with ambiguous results. This study examines potential influencing factors of HMO concentrations and how HMO are associated with child growth parameters

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