Stability of Human-Milk Oligosaccharide Concentrations Over 1 Week of Lactation and Over 6 Hours Following a Standard Meal

Paige K Berger; Hailey E Hampson; Kelsey A Schmidt; Tanya L Alderete; Annalee Furst; Chloe Yonemitsu; Ellen Demerath; Michael I Goran; David A Fields; Lars Bode

doi:10.1093/jn/nxac214

Stability of Human-Milk Oligosaccharide Concentrations Over 1 Week of Lactation and Over 6 Hours Following a Standard Meal

J Nutr. 2023 Jan 14;152(12):2727-2733. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxac214.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatric Newborn Medicine, Mass General Brigham, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
² Department of Pediatrics, The Saban Research Institute, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
³ Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics and Mother-Milk-Infant Center of Research Excellence (MOMI CORE), University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
⁵ Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
⁶ Department of Pediatrics, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.

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.

Keywords: breastfeeding; diet; human-milk oligosaccharides; lactation; mother.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Breast Feeding*
Female
Humans
Infant
Lactation*
Milk, Human
Mothers
Oligosaccharides

Substances

Oligosaccharides

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding