Breast milk leptin and adiponectin in relation to infant body composition up to 2 years

Abstract

Background: Adipokines in breast milk have been associated with infant growth trajectories.

Objective: We aimed to explore the relationship of leptin and adiponectin in breast milk with infant weight gain and body composition up to the age of 2 years.

Methods: Breast milk samples were collected from exclusively or partially breastfeeding mothers at 6 weeks (n = 152) and 4 months (n = 120) post-partum. Leptin and adiponectin were determined in skim breast milk and related to infant growth and fat mass assessed by skin-fold thickness measurements. A total of 118 infants were examined at 2 years.

Results: The levels of both milk adipokines were slightly lower at 4 months compared with 6 weeks post-partum. Breast milk leptin was largely unrelated to infant anthropometric measures up to 2 years. Milk adiponectin tended to be inversely related to early infant anthropometry up to 4 months, but beyond was positively associated with weight gain and the sum of skin-folds up to 2 years.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that higher adiponectin levels in breast milk might be associated with greater weight gain and higher fat mass in the offspring up to 2 years.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00362089.

Keywords: Adipokines; adiponectin; body composition; breast milk; leptin; weight gain.