Correction to: Gold standard for nutrition: a review of human milk oligosaccharide and its effects on infant gut microbiota

There is little data on human milk oligosaccharide (HMO) composition in Sub-Saharan Africa. Iron fortificants adversely affect the infant gut microbiota, while co-provision of prebiotic galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) mitigates most of the adverse effects. Whether variations in maternal HMO profile can influence the infant response to iron and/or GOS fortificants is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine HMO profiles and the secretor/non-secretor phenotype of lactating Kenyan mothers and investigate their effects on the maternal and infant gut microbiota, and on the infant response to a fortification intervention with 5 mg iron (2.5 mg as sodium iron ethylenediaminetetraacetate and 2.5 mg as ferrous fumarate) and 7.5 g GOS. We studied mother–infant pairs (n = 80) participating in a 4-month intervention trial in which the infants (aged 6.5–9.5 months) received daily a micronutrient powder without iron, with iron or with iron and GOS. We assessed: (1) maternal secretor status and HMO composition; (2) effects of secretor status on the maternal and infant gut microbiota in a cross-sectional analysis at baseline of the intervention trial; and (3) interactions between secretor status and intervention groups during the intervention trial on the infant gut microbiota, gut inflammation, iron status, growth and infectious morbidity. Secretor prevalence was 72% and HMOs differed between secretors and non-secretors and over time of lactation. Secretor status did not predict the baseline composition of the maternal and infant gut microbiota. There was a secretor-status-by-intervention-group interaction on Bifidobacterium (p = 0.021), Z-scores for length-for-age (p = 0.022) and weight-for-age (p = 0.018), and soluble transferrin receptor (p = 0.041). In the no iron group, longitudinal prevalence of diarrhea was higher among infants of non-secretors (23.8%) than of secretors (10.4%) (p = 0.001). In conclusion, HMO profile may modulate the infant gut microbiota response to fortificant iron; compared to infants of secretor mothers, infants of non-secretor mothers may be more vulnerable to the adverse effect of iron but also benefit more from the co-provision of GOS.

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Gut Microbiota Development: Influence of Diet from Infancy to Toddlerhood

Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism ◽

10.1159/000517912 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-14

Author(s):

Martin Frederik Laursen

Keyword(s):

Gut Microbiota ◽

Human Milk ◽

Early Life ◽

Complementary Feeding ◽

Developmental Trajectory ◽

Microbial Colonization ◽

Future Health ◽

Poor Growth ◽

Milk Oligosaccharide ◽

Human Milk Oligosaccharide

Early life is a critical period as our gut microbiota establishes here and may impact both current and future health. Thus, it is of importance to understand how different factors govern the complex microbial colonization patterns in this period. The gut microbiota changes substantially during infancy and toddlerhood in terms of both taxonomic composition and diversity. This developmental trajectory differs by a variety of factors, including term of birth, mode of birth, intake of antibiotics, presence of furred pets, siblings and family members, host genetics, local environment, geographical location, and maternal and infant/toddler diet. The type of milk feeding and complementary feeding is particularly important in early and late infancy/toddlerhood, respectively. Breastfeeding, due to the supply of human milk oligosaccharide into the gut, promotes the growth of specific human milk oligosaccharide (HMO)-utilizing <i>Bifidobacterium</i> species that dominate the ecosystem as long as the infant is primarily breastfed. These species perform saccharolytic fermentation in the gut and produce metabolites with physiological effects that may contribute to protection against infectious and immune-related diseases. Formula feeding, due to its lack of HMOs and higher protein content, give rise to a more diverse gut microbiota that contains more opportunistic pathogens and results in a more proteolytic metabolism in the gut. Complementary feeding, due to the introduction of dietary fibers and new protein sources, induces a shift in the gut microbiota and metabolism away from the milk-adapted and toward a more mature and diverse adult-like community with increased abundances of short chain fatty acid-producing bacterial taxa. While the physiological implication of these complementary diet-induced changes remains to be established, a few recent studies indicate that an inadequately matured gut microbiota may be causally related to poor growth and development. Further studies are required to expand our knowledge on interactions between diet, gut microbiota, and health in the early life setting.

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Human Milk Oligosaccharide Profile Variation Throughout Postpartum in Healthy Women in a Brazilian Cohort

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu12030790 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 790 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Ana Lorena Ferreira ◽

Ronaldo Alves ◽

Amanda Figueiredo ◽

Nadya Alves-Santos ◽

Nathalia Freitas-Costa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Human Milk ◽

Rank Correlation ◽

Postpartum Visit ◽

Maternal Characteristics ◽

Milk Oligosaccharide ◽

Healthy Women ◽

Human Milk Oligosaccharide ◽

Post Hoc ◽

Brazilian Cohort ◽

Non Negative Matrix Factorization

Human milk oligosaccharide (HMO) composition varies throughout lactation and can be influenced by maternal characteristics. This study describes HMO variation up to three months postpartum and explores the influences of maternal sociodemographic and anthropometric characteristics in a Brazilian prospective cohort. We followed 101 subjects from 28–35 gestational weeks (baseline) and throughout lactation at 2–8 (visit 1), 28–50 (visit 2) and 88–119 days postpartum (visit 3). Milk samples were collected at visits 1, 2 and 3, and 19 HMOs were quantified usinghigh-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FL). Friedman post-hoc test, Spearman rank correlation for maternal characteristics and HMOs and non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) were used to define the HMO profile. Most women were secretors (89.1%) and presented high proportion of 2′-fucosyllactose (2′FL) at all three sample times, while lacto-N-tetraose (LNT, 2–8 days) and lacto-N-fucopentaose II (LNFPII, 28–50 and 88–119 days) were the most abundant HMOs in non-secretor women. Over the course of lactation, total HMO weight concentrations (g/L) decreased, but total HMO molar concentrations (mmol/L) increased, highlighting differential changes in HMO composition over time. In addition, maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and parity influence the HMO composition in healthy women in this Brazilian cohort.

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