Effects of Breast Milk or Supplemented Formula Milk on Fecal Metabolomic Profile

Abstract

Breast milk is the best option for the nutritional needs of an infant. In situations where breastfeeding is contraindicated, donor human milk and formula milk are suggested as alternatives. This study highlights findings from two studies that evaluated how different dietary patterns (standard formula, post-biotic fermented formula, and breast milk) affected the intestinal microbiota and metabolome of late preterm and full-term infants. The metabolome of late preterm newborns showed a higher presence of metabolites-such as azelaic acid, N-acetylglucosamine-6- sulfate, and 13(S)-hydroperoxylinolenic acid-in those fed postbiotic-fermented formula, similar to breastfed full-term newborns. The fecal metabolites of breast milk and substitute feeding systems are comparable in these preliminary studies, confirming the effectiveness of formula preparations as breast milk substitutes. Furthermore, newborns fed with postbiotic-supplemented formula or breast milk had several similarities in fecal metabolites. The addition of postbiotics to formula milk appears to be more efficient than standard formula milk and is considered a better alternative to breast milk.

Keywords: Post-biotic; breast milk; fecal metabolome; formula milk; human milk; infant nutrition; microbiota.