Abstract
Holistic benefits of human milk to infants, particularly brain development and cognitive behavior, have stipulated that infant formula be tailored in composition like human milk. However, the composition of human milk, especially lipids, and their effects on brain development is complex and not fully elucidated. We evaluated brain lipidome profiles in weanling rats fed human milk or infant formula using non-targeted UHPLC-MS techniques. We also compared the lipid composition of human milk and infant formula using conventional GC-FID and HPLC-ELSD techniques. The sphingomyelin class of lipids was significantly higher in brains of rats fed human milk. Lipid species mainly comprising saturated or mono-unsaturated C18 fatty acids contributed significantly higher percentages to their respective classes in human milk compared to infant formula fed samples. In contrast, PUFAs contributed significantly higher percentages in brains of formula fed samples. Differences between human milk and formula lipids included minor fatty acids such as C8:0 and C12:0, which were higher in formula, and C16:1 and C18:1 n11, which were higher in human milk. Formula also contained higher levels of low- to medium-carbon triacylglycerols, whereas human milk had higher levels of high-carbon triacylglycerols. All phospholipid classes, and ceramides, were higher in formula. We show that brain lipid composition differs in weanling rats fed human milk or infant formula, but dietary lipid compositions do not necessarily manifest in the brain lipidome.
Highlights
The general consensus is that human milk is the preferred source of nutrition for the infant [1,2].Designing infant formulae to mimic the composition of human milk is common practice [3].Several studies focusing on cognitive and associated neurodevelopment of infants favor breast feeding compared to formula-based diets [4,5,6]
Genetics, and environmental predisposition are partly implicated for the results in favor of human milk [4,6], differences in the nutritional composition of human milk and formula can have a huge impact on mental development [6], white matter [5]
We showed that human milk and infant formula differentially modified the gut tissue transcriptome and proteome, and the plasma metabolome in a growing rat model [16]
Summary
The general consensus is that human milk is the preferred source of nutrition for the infant [1,2].Designing infant formulae to mimic the composition of human milk is common practice [3].Several studies focusing on cognitive and associated neurodevelopment of infants favor breast feeding compared to formula-based diets [4,5,6]. Metabolites 2019, 9, 253 polyunsaturated fatty acids, cholines, and phospholipids [6,7] These compounds are normally added to infant formula, the ingredients are mostly derived from plant sources, which have different molecular structures compared to those in human milk. There are times where breast feeding the infant may not be possible, mainly where the composition of human milk may be altered due to environmental, pharmacological, or physiological factors. Under such circumstances, alternative milk-based nutrition is the only choice [1]. The holistic growth and development of the infant is critical, and lipids are an important component of milk in terms of both nutrition and the physical characteristics that they impart
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