Abstract
Objective: Glucocorticoids (GCs) in breastmilk have previously been associated with infant body growth and body composition. However, the diurnal rhythm of breastmilk GCs was not taken into account, and we therefore aimed to assess the associations between breastmilk GC rhythmicity at 1 month and growth and body composition at 3 months in infants. Methods: At 1 month postpartum, breastmilk GCs were collected over a 24-h period and analyzed by LC-MS/MS. Body composition was measured using air-displacement plethysmography at 3 months. Length and weight were collected at 1, 2, and 3 months. Results: In total, 42 healthy mother–infant pairs were included. No associations were found between breastmilk GC rhythmicity (area-under-the-curve increase and ground, maximum, and delta) and infant growth trajectories or body composition (fat and fat free mass index, fat%) at 3 months. Conclusions: This study did not find an association between breastmilk GC rhythmicity at 1 month and infant’s growth or body composition at 3 months. Therefore, this study suggests that previous observations linking breastmilk cortisol to changes in infant weight might be flawed by the lack of serial cortisol measurements and detailed information on body composition.
Highlights
Growing attention is focused on the etiology of obesity, and it has been hypothesized that part of its origin can be traced back to events occurring in early life (i.e., the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis) [1].Given its effects on fat disposition and metabolism, the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)axis has been implicated to play a role in the pathway leading to obesity [2,3]
Hahn-Holbrook et al (2016) [8] showed that cortisol in breastmilk at the age of 3 months was inversely associated with body mass index (BMI) percentile gains in the first 2 years of life
A total of 42 mother–infant pairs were included in the growth trajectory analyses, whereas 39 mother-infant pairs were included in the body composition analyses at 3 months of age
Summary
Growing attention is focused on the etiology of obesity, and it has been hypothesized that part of its origin can be traced back to events occurring in early life (i.e., the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis) [1].Given its effects on fat disposition and metabolism, the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)axis has been implicated to play a role in the pathway leading to obesity [2,3]. Evidence from animal experiments indicates that increased transplacental supply of maternal GCs may be associated with a lower birth weight and cardiovascular correlates, such as hypertension and hyperglycemia [4]. Small amounts of maternal GCs appear to be transferred to the developing infant through breastmilk. Maternal GCs in breastmilk have been shown to cross the intestinal barrier in animals [6], and have been associated with growth and body composition. Hinde et al (2015) [7] found that cortisol in the breastmilk of rhesus macaques was positively associated with weight gain in offspring. Hahn-Holbrook et al (2016) [8] showed that cortisol in breastmilk at the age of 3 months was inversely associated with body mass index (BMI) percentile gains in the first 2 years of life. Whether the findings from these studies are contradictory is unclear, since length was not taken into account by Hinde et al [7]
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