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. 2024 Jul 18:11:1275436.
doi: 10.3389/fped.2023.1275436. eCollection 2023.

Metagenomic assessment of the bacterial breastfeeding microbiome in mature milk across lactation

Kelly Ingram  1 , Collin Gregg  2 , Allison Tegge  2 , Jed T Elison  3   4 , Weili Lin  5 , Brittany R Howell  1   2   6
Affiliations

Metagenomic assessment of the bacterial breastfeeding microbiome in mature milk across lactation

Kelly Ingram et al. Front Pediatr. .

Abstract

Introduction: Research has illustrated the presence of a diverse range of microbiota in human milk. The composition of the milk microbiome varies across different stages of lactation, emphasizing the need to consider the lactation stage when studying its composition. Additionally, the transfer of both milk and skin microbiota during breastfeeding is crucial for understanding their collective impact on infant health and development. Further exploration of the complete breastfeeding microbiome is necessary to unravel the role these organisms play in infant development. We aim to longitudinally assess the bacterial breastfeeding microbiome across stages of lactation. This includes all the bacteria that infants are exposed to during breastfeeding, such as bacteria found within human milk and any bacteria found on the breast and nipple.

Methods: Forty-six human milk samples were collected from 15 women at 1, 4, 7, and 10 months postpartum. Metagenomic analysis of the bacterial microbiome for these samples was performed by CosmosID (Rockville, MD) via deep sequencing.

Results: Staphylococcus epidermidis and Propionibacteriaceae species are the most abundant bacterial species from these samples. Samples collected at 10 months showed higher abundances of Proteobacteria, Streptococcaceae, Lactobacillales, Streptococcus, and Neisseria mucosa compared to other timepoints. Alpha diversity varied greatly between participants but did not change significantly over time.

Discussion: As the bacterial breastfeeding microbiome continues to be studied, bacterial contributions could be used to predict and reduce health risks, optimize infant outcomes, and design effective management strategies, such as altering the maternal flora, to mitigate adverse health concerns.

Keywords: breastfeeding; human milk; longitudial analysis; metagenomic; microbiome.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that this study received funding from Nestlé Product Technology Center-Nutrition. The funder was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article, or the decision to submit it for publication.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Heatmap of relative bacterial abundance. The 30 most common bacterial species in 46 breastfeeding bacterial microbiome samples from 15 participants. Samples were collected at 1 month, 4 months, 7 months, and 10 months postpartum.
Figure 2
Figure 2
LDA score (log10) bar plot of 10 months old lactation stage, indicating a higher abundance at the 10-month-old lactation stage when compared to the 1, 4, and 7 months lactation stages.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Change in alpha diversity over time. The alpha diversity (Shannon) for samples from each participant were analyzed to determine changes in bacterial diversity over time. Each color corresponds to one participant. Missing data points between two adjacent time periods are indicated by data points without a line.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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