Maternal Diet Is Associated with Human Milk Oligosaccharide Profile

Abstract

Scope: Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are complex glycans that are abundant in human milk. The potential impact of a maternal diet on individual HMOs and the association with secretor status is unknown. Thus, this study is aimed to examine the association between maternal diet and HMO profiles.

Methods and results: This is a cross-sectional study of the MAMI cohort with 101 human milk samples from healthy mothers. HMO profiling is assessed by quantitative HPLC. Maternal dietary information is recorded through an FFQ, and perinatal factors including the mode of delivery, antibiotic exposure, and breastfeeding practices, are collected. A more significant effect of diet on HMO profiles is observed in secretor mothers than in non-secretor mothers. (Poly)phenols and fibers, both soluble and insoluble, and several insoluble polysaccharides, pectin, and MUFA are associated with the secretor HMO profiles.

Conclusions: Maternal diet is associated with the composition and diversity of HMO in a secretor status-dependent manner. The relationship between maternal diet and bioactive compounds, including HMOs, which are present in human milk, needs further research due its potential impact on infant development and health outcomes.

Keywords: breast milk; fiber; human milk oligosaccharides; maternal diet; secretor.

Figure 1

Secretor phenotypes impact the HMO profile composition and diversity. A) Principal component analysis (PCA) of the mothers according to secretor status based on the HMO content. B) Differences in sialylated (Sia), fucosylated (Fuc), and total HMO (SUM) quantification according to maternal secretor status. C, D) Differences in the quantification of each measured HMO (C) and diversity/evenness richness (D) according to secretor status. Statistical differences are marked as following: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001, **** p < 0.0001.

Figure 2

Specific maternal nutrients intakes were related to HMO concentrations in both secretor (A) and nonsecretor mothers (B). Heatmaps of Spearman correlations between HMO and dietary components intake during pregnancy. Significant correlations (p < 0.05) are marked by an asterisk (∗) and q‐values < 0.2. a‐. Blue squares represent negative correlations, whereas red squares show positive correlations.

Figure 3

Maternal diet during pregnancy impacts the HMO profile in secretor mothers. A) Polar plots visualizing the amount of variance of HMO profiles that could be explained by the nutrients analyzed using envFit function. The height of the bars reflects the amount of variance (R ²) explained by each covariate. Covariates are colored according to nutrient category. Asterisks indicate significant covariates (p < 0.05). B) Principal component analysis (PCA) showing the differences in the clusters of HMO. C, D) Boxplot indicating the differences in diversity and evenness (C) and the differences in maternal nutrient intake (in percentage of daily energy) according to clusters (D). E) Two dimensional nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) plot of HMO with the significant variables that impact the HMO profile.

Figure 3

Maternal diet during pregnancy impacts the HMO profile in secretor mothers. A) Polar plots visualizing the amount of variance of HMO profiles that could be explained by the nutrients analyzed using envFit function. The height of the bars reflects the amount of variance (R ²) explained by each covariate. Covariates are colored according to nutrient category. Asterisks indicate significant covariates (p < 0.05). B) Principal component analysis (PCA) showing the differences in the clusters of HMO. C, D) Boxplot indicating the differences in diversity and evenness (C) and the differences in maternal nutrient intake (in percentage of daily energy) according to clusters (D). E) Two dimensional nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) plot of HMO with the significant variables that impact the HMO profile.

Figure 3

Maternal diet during pregnancy impacts the HMO profile in secretor mothers. A) Polar plots visualizing the amount of variance of HMO profiles that could be explained by the nutrients analyzed using envFit function. The height of the bars reflects the amount of variance (R ²) explained by each covariate. Covariates are colored according to nutrient category. Asterisks indicate significant covariates (p < 0.05). B) Principal component analysis (PCA) showing the differences in the clusters of HMO. C, D) Boxplot indicating the differences in diversity and evenness (C) and the differences in maternal nutrient intake (in percentage of daily energy) according to clusters (D). E) Two dimensional nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) plot of HMO with the significant variables that impact the HMO profile.

Figure 4

Maternal diet during pregnancy showed a narrow impact in the HMO profile of nonsecretor mothers. A) Principal component analysis (PCA) showing the differences in the clusters of HMO. B) Polar plots visualizing the amount of variance of HMO profiles that could be explained by the as nutrients analyzed using envFit function. The height of the bars reflects the amount of variance (R ²) explained by each covariate. Covariates are colored to according to nutrients category. C) Boxplot indicating the differences in diversity and evenness according to HMO clusters.