Human Milk Oligosaccharides and Hispanic Infant Weight Gain in the First 6 Months

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) at 1 month predicted infant weight gain at 6 months and whether associations varied by HMO secretor status.

Methods: Participants were 157 Hispanic mother-infant pairs. Human milk samples were collected at 1 month. Nineteen individual HMOs were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography, and secretor status was determined by the presence of 2'-fucosyllactose or lacto-N-fucopentaose (LNFP) I. Infant weight was measured at 1 and 6 months. Path analysis was used to test effects of HMO composition on infant weight gain, adjusting for maternal age, prepregnancy BMI, and infant age, sex, and birth weight.

Results: In the total sample, higher LNFPII predicted lower infant weight gain (g₁ = -4.1, P = 0.004); this was observed in both nonsecretor (g₁ = -3.0, P = 0.006) and secretor groups (g₁ = -4.7, P = 0.014). In the nonsecretor group, higher lacto-N-neotetraose (g₁ = 7.6, P = 0.011) and disialyllacto-N-tetraose (g₁ = 14.3, P = 0.002) predicted higher infant weight gain. There were no other associations in the secretor group.

Conclusions: Our data suggest that higher LNFPII in human milk may decrease obesity risk across all infants, whereas higher lacto-N-neotetraose and disialyllacto-N-tetraose may increase obesity risk in infants of nonsecretors only.