Abstract
Breast milk is the gold standard of nutrition for newborns. Its composition is tailored to the nutritional needs of the infant and varies between mothers. In recent years, several bioactive molecules have been discovered in addition to the main nutrients, such as multipotent stem cells, hormones, immunoglobulins, and bacteria. Furthermore, the human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) seem to exert several important protective biological functions. According to the HMOs’ composition, breast milk can be classified as a secretory or non-secretory phenotype. In our study, we investigated the metabolome of milk collected from 58 mothers that delivered neonates at term, that were appropriate, small or large for gestational age, by performing nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-NMR). From the data analysis, two groups were distinguished based on their different types of oligosaccharides, and classified according the mother phenotype: secretory and non-secretory. This information is of major importance given the different biological function of the different HMOs, such as immune-modulation and protection against disease. This would allow us to predict whether the neonate would be, for instance, more prone to developing certain diseases, and to tailor her or his nutrition to fit their needs perfectly and pave the way to a personalized nutrition.
Highlights
Maternal milk is a complex fluid that evolutionarily adapted to satisfy the nutritional needs of the neonate
No significant difference in age, body mass index (BMI), and gestational age (GA) were observed among groups
In accordance with the study by Spevacek et al [8], which showed the presence of fucosilated oligosaccharides, such as 30 fucosyl-lactose (30 FL), 20 fucosyl-lactose (20 FL), and LNFP III, our study demonstrates the above-mentioned milk oligosaccharides; the variation in the first month of lactation was not documented
Summary
Maternal milk is a complex fluid that evolutionarily adapted to satisfy the nutritional needs of the neonate. Human breast milk (HBM) has the characteristic of significantly varying from one woman to another, and it changes constantly during lactation to adapt to the growing energy needs of the developing infant. Metabolites 2018, 8, 79 third most abundant constituent They exert several important functions, such as the modulation of the composition of the gut microbiota that influences a wide range of physiological processes in the neonate [3]. Oligosaccharides are indigestible by the neonate, but they are a source of nourishment for the bacteria colonising and living in the neonate’s guts. Their presence can favor the growth of some species of commensal bacteria (i.e., Bifidobacteria strains) and inhibit the growth of pathogens. It is interesting to notice that according to a recent study, oligosaccharides are not altered by pasteurization or freeze-drying [4]
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