Abstract
Background
Bovine milk-derived oligosaccharides (MOS) containing primarily galacto-oligosaccharides with inherent levels of sialylated oligosaccharides can be added to infant formula to enhance the oligosaccharide profile.
Objective
To investigate the effects of a MOS-supplemented infant formula on gut microbiota and intestinal immunity.
Methods
In a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial, healthy-term formula-fed infants aged 21–26 days either received an intact protein cow's milk-based formula (control group, CG, n = 112) or the same formula containing 7.2 g MOS/L (experimental group, EG, n = 114) until age 6 months. Exclusively human milk-fed infants (HFI, n = 70) from an observational study served as reference. Fecal samples collected at baseline, 2.5 and 4 months of age were assessed for microbiota (16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid—based approaches), metabolites and biomarkers of gut health and immune response.
Results
At age 2.5 and 4 months, redundancy analysis (P = 0.002) and average phylogenetic distance (P < 0.05) showed that the overall microbiota composition in EG was different from CG and closer to that of HFI. Similarly, EG caesarean-born infants were different from CG caesarean- or vaginally-born infants and approaching HFI vaginally-born infants. Relative bifidobacteria abundance was higher in EG vs. CG (P < 0.05) approaching HFI. At age 4 months, counts of Clostridioides difficile and Clostridium perfringens were ∼90% (P < 0.001) and ∼65% (P < 0.01) lower in EG vs. CG, respectively. Mean (95%CI) fecal secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA) in EG was twice that of CG [70 (57,85) vs. 34 (28,42) mg/g, P < 0.001] and closer to HFI. Fecal oral polio vaccine-specific IgA was ∼50% higher in EG vs. CG (P = 0.065). Compared to CG, EG and HFI had lower fecal calcium excretion (by ∼30%) and fecal pH (P < 0.001), and higher lactate concentration (P < 0.001).
Conclusions
Infant formula with MOS shifts the gut microbiota and metabolic signature closer to that of HFI, has a strong bifidogenic effect, reduces fecal pathogens, and improves intestinal immune response.
Infant formula composition affects energetic efficiency for growth: The BeMIM study, a randomized controlled trial