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Observational Study
. 2019 Jun 17;11(6):1358.
doi: 10.3390/nu11061358.

Maternal and Infant Factors Associated with Human Milk Oligosaccharides Concentrations According to Secretor and Lewis Phenotypes

Karina M Tonon  1 , Mauro B de Morais  2 , Ana Cristina F V Abrão  3 , Antonio Miranda  4 , Tania B Morais  5
Affiliations
Observational Study

Maternal and Infant Factors Associated with Human Milk Oligosaccharides Concentrations According to Secretor and Lewis Phenotypes

Karina M Tonon et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are multifunctional carbohydrates naturally present in human milk that act as prebiotics, prevent pathogen binding and infections, modulate the immune system and may support brain development in infants. HMOs composition is very individualized and differences in HMOs concentrations may affect the infant's health. HMOs variability can be partially explained by the activity of Secretor (Se) and Lewis (Le) genes in the mother, but non-genetic maternal factors may also be involved. In this cross-sectional, observational study, 78 single human milk samples ranging from 17 to 76 days postpartum (median: 32 days, IQR: 25-46 days) were collected from breastfeeding Brazilian women, analyzed for 16 representative HMOs by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry and associations between maternal and infant factors with HMOs concentrations were investigated. HMOs concentrations presented a high variability even in women with the same SeLe phenotype and associations with maternal allergic disease, time postpartum and with infant's weight, weight gain and sex. Overall, we present unprecedented data on HMOs concentrations from breastfeeding Brazilian women and novel associations of maternal allergic disease and infant's sex with HMOs concentrations. Differences in HMOs composition attributed to maternal SeLe phenotype do not impact infant growth, but higher concentrations of specific HMOs may protect against excessive weight gain.

Keywords: Lewis phenotype; Secretor phenotype; bioactive components; exclusive breastfeeding; human milk composition; human milk oligosaccharides.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) profile and concentrations in human milk according to the SeLe (a) and Se (b) phenotype of the lactating mother.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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