Breast Milk Lipidome Is Associated With Maternal Diet and Infants' Growth

Joaquim Calvo-Lerma; Marta Selma-Royo; David Hervas; Baoru Yang; Linda Intonen; Sonia González; Cecilia Martínez-Costa; Kaisa M Linderborg; Maria Carmen Collado

doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.854786

Breast Milk Lipidome Is Associated With Maternal Diet and Infants' Growth

Front Nutr. 2022 Jul 6:9:854786. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.854786. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Joaquim Calvo-Lerma¹, Marta Selma-Royo¹, David Hervas², Baoru Yang³, Linda Intonen³, Sonia González^{4

5}, Cecilia Martínez-Costa⁶, Kaisa M Linderborg³, Maria Carmen Collado¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA-CSIC), Valencia, Spain.
² Department of Applied Statistics and Operations Research, and Quality, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain.
³ Department of Life Technologies, Food Sciences, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
⁴ Department of Functional Biology, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain.
⁵ Diet, Microbiota and Health Group, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), Oviedo, Spain.
⁶ Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition Section, Hospital Clínico Universitario Valencia, INCLIVA Research Center, Valencia, Spain.

Abstract

Objectives: The fatty acid (FA) composition of breast milk is a relevant aspect related to the development of the lactating infant. The present study aimed at exploring correlations between dietary intake of macro- and micronutrients with the FA profile in breast milk, and the possible implication for infants' growth.

Study design: Breast milk samples from a cohort of lactating women were collected 7-15 days postpartum. The FA profiles in triacylglycerol (TAG) and phospholipid (PL)-rich fractions were analyzed by gas chromatography. Diet was registered during the third trimester of pregnancy by means of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). In addition, anthropometric measurements of infants were collected from gestation and up to 12 months postpartum.

Results: The FA profile in breast milk was characterized by a median of 37.4, 41.3 and 16.8% of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated FAs, respectively. From the dietary components, zinc, iron, and B group vitamins were correlated positively with the proportion of total n-3 FAs in TAG and C20:5 n-3 in PL. Lycopene, vitamin E, zinc, and vitamin B2 showed a similar correlation with total polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), total n-6 FAs, C20:4 n-6, and C18:2 n-6 in TAG. Regarding food groups, nuts showed the strongest association with several PUFA both in TAG and PL, while the vegetable group was also positively associated with C18:3 n-3. Furthermore, the concentration of linolenic acid (C18:3 n-3) and palmitic acid (C16:0) were positively associated with increased length for age (LFA) and weight for age (WFA) at 12 months compared with birth [ΔLFA -0.16 (-0.85, 0.37); ΔWFA -0.26 (-0.77, 0.21)].

Conclusions: Mothers' intake of nuts, dietary sources of zinc, iron, and B group vitamins were identified as potential predictors of a high-unsaturated FA profile in breast milk. In addition, linolenic and palmitic acids in breast milk were positively associated with infants' growth in the first year of life.

Keywords: breast milk composition; diet; dietary habits; fatty acids profile; lactation; polyunsaturated fatty acids.