A 3-week pre-clinical study of 2′-fucosyllactose in farm piglets

One of the most abundant oligosaccharides found in human milk is 2′-fucosyllactose, a trisaccharide composed of fucose and lactose, and multiple studies have demonstrated a health benefit to this compound. Recent advances have allowed for the large-scale production of oligosaccharides via fermentation, including 2′-fucosyllactose. A neonatal piglet model was used to evaluate the tolerability of 2′-fucosyllactose, produced through this process, in order to demonstrate the suitability of this compound for human infants under 12 weeks of age. Crossbred farm piglets, at lactation day 2, were assigned to one of four treatment groups receiving a liquid diet containing 0, 200, 500 or 2000 mg/L of 2′-fucosyllactose. The calculated consumption of 2′-fucosyllactose corresponded to dose levels of 29.37, 72.22 and 291.74 mg/kg/day, respectively, in males and 29.30, 74.31, and 298.99 mg/kg/day, respectively in females. Piglets were administered diet for 3 weeks; and there were no test article-related effects on growth and development (clinical observations, body weight and food consumption), clinical pathology parameters (hematology, clinical chemistry, coagulation and urinalysis), or any histopathologic changes. Therefore, dietary exposure to 2′-fucosyllactose at concentrations up to 2000 mg/L was well tolerated by neonatal farm piglets and did not result in adverse health effects or impact piglet growth.