Abstract
Background: Our previous studies revealed that human-milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) have health benefits for nursing infants and their concentrations change dynamically over 24 mo of lactation. Yet, the extent to which HMOs vary over the short term (days) and in response to acute factors such as maternal diet is unclear. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the stability of HMO concentrations over 7 d and in response to a standard meal and sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) over 6 h. Methods: In this ancillary study, lactating mothers were enrolled at 6 wk postpartum. Participants received in-person instructions and materials to complete procedures at home. In the 1-wk experiment (n = 11), mothers pumped a milk sample at 07:00 h for 7 consecutive days. In the 6-h experiment (n = 35), mothers pumped a milk sample after an overnight fast at 06:00 h and then consumed a standard meal plus SSB provided by the study team. Mothers pumped a milk sample every hour for 6 consecutive hours. Samples were analyzed for the 19 most abundant HMOs. Repeated-measures ANOVA was used to test changes in HMO concentrations over time, reported as F(dftime, dferror) = F value, P value. Results: Concentrations of all assayed HMOs were stable over 7 consecutive days, including, for example, the most widely studied HMOs in relation to infant health: 2′-fucosyllactose (2′FL) [F(2,17) = 0.39, P = 0.65], disialyl-lacto-N-tetraose (DSLNT) [F(4, 37) = 0.60, P = 0.66], and lacto-N-neotetraose (LNnT) [F(3, 32) = 1.5, P = 0.23]. Concentrations of all assayed HMOs were stable in response to a standard meal plus SSB. For example, fasted baseline concentrations of 2′FL, DSLNT, and LNnT were 2310 ± 1620 μg/mL, 560 ± 290 μg/mL, and 630 ± 290 μg/mL, respectively, and there were no changes in 2′FL [F(4, 119) = 1.9, P = 0.13], DSLNT [F(4, 136) = 0.39, P = 0.83], and LNnT [F(4, 120) = 0.64, P = 0.63] over 6 consecutive hours. Conclusions: HMO concentrations are stable over 1 wk of lactation and are not acutely affected by a standard meal plus SSB in mothers.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2727-2733 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Journal of Nutrition |
| Volume | 152 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors thank the participating mothers for their commitment to this research. The authors’ responsibilities were as follows—PKB, MIG, DAF, and LB: conceptualized the study; ED and DAF: were responsible for the study design; CY, AF, and LB: conducted HMO analyses; PKB: performed statistical analysis; PKB, ED, and DAF: acquired the funding; PKB and LB: wrote the original manuscript; and all authors: reviewed and edited the manuscript and read and approved the final manuscript. Data described in the manuscript, code book, and analytic code will be made available upon request pending application and approval from the authors. Research reported in this publication was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (R00 HD098288, R01 HD080444) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01 DK110793). This work was also supported by the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center at the University of Oklahoma. LB is the Chair of Collaborative Human Milk Research, endowed by the Family Larsson Rosenquist Foundation, Switzerland. Author disclosures: MIG receives book royalties from Penguin Random House and is a scientific advisor for Yumi. The other authors report no conflicts of interest. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The funding sources had no role in the design, execution, analyses, interpretation of data, writing of the report, or decision to submit the report for publication. Supplemental Figure 1 is available from the “Supplementary data” link in the online posting of the article and from the same link in the online table of contents at https://academic.oup.com/jn/.
Funding Information:
Research reported in this publication was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (R00 HD098288, R01 HD080444) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01 DK110793). This work was also supported by the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center at the University of Oklahoma. LB is the Chair of Collaborative Human Milk Research, endowed by the Family Larsson Rosenquist Foundation, Switzerland.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Society for Nutrition.
Keywords
- breastfeeding
- diet
- human-milk oligosaccharides
- lactation
- mother