Abstract
Fatty acids (FA), phospholipids (PL), and gangliosides (GD) play a central role in infant growth, immune and inflammatory responses. The aim of this study was to determine FA, PL, and GD compositional changes in human milk (HM) during lactation in a large group of Chinese lactating mothers (540 volunteers) residing in Beijing, Guangzhou, and Suzhou. HM samples were collected after full expression from one breast and while the baby was fed on the other breast. FA were assessed by direct methylation followed by gas chromatography (GC) analysis. PL and GD were extracted using chloroform and methanol. A methodology employing liquid chromatography coupled with an evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) and with time of flight (TOF) mass spectrometry was used to quantify PL and GD classes in HM, respectively. Saturated FA (SFA), mono-unsaturated FA (MUFA), and PL content decreased during lactation, while polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) and GD content increased. Among different cities, over the lactation time, HM from Beijing showed the highest SFA content, HM from Guangzhou the highest MUFA content and HM from Suzhou the highest n-3PUFA content. The highest total PL and GD contents were observed in HM from Suzhou. In order to investigate the influence of the diet on maternal milk composition, a careful analyses of dietary habits of these population needs to be performed in the future.
Highlights
Human milk (HM) is considered the optimal form of nourishment for infants during the first six months of life [1] and among its macronutrients, the lipid fraction is crucial, representing approximately 50% of the energy supplied to the newborn infant [2]
Milk obtained for analyses was a single, whole breast milk sample to have a comprehensive view on nutrient content
Our study showed that PtdCho was the most abundant PL in human milk (HM) (Figure 2), followed by CerPCho and PtdEtn, and PtdIns and PtdSer, in agreement with previous studies [3,11,12,44,46]
Summary
Human milk (HM) is considered the optimal form of nourishment for infants during the first six months of life [1] and among its macronutrients, the lipid fraction is crucial, representing approximately 50% of the energy supplied to the newborn infant [2]. The majority of fatty acids (FA), approximately 98%, are esterified to a glycerol backbone to form. Among PUFA, linoleic (LA, 18:2n-6) and alpha linolenic acids (ALA, 18:3n-3) are essential because they are not synthesized in the human body and they are precursors of arachidonic (ARA, 20:4n-6) and docosahexaenoic (DHA, 22:6n-3) FA that are associated with normal brain development, especially in early life [5]. PtdEtn, PtdSer, and PtdCho consist of a glycerol esterified with FA in the sn-1 and sn-2 positions. CerPCho consists of a sphingoid base backbone to which an amide-linked long-chain FA can be attached, leading to the ceramides (N-acyl-sphingoid bases) [6]. PL are a source of FA and choline, the precursors of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which acts by regulating the transduction signal and serves as a source of methyl groups in intermediate metabolism, being considered essential for optimum development of the brain [7,8]
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