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Associations between human milk oligosaccharides and growth in infancy and early childhood

Hanna Lagström1,2, Samuli Rautava3, Helena Ollila1

  • 1Department of Public Health, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
|February 19, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Maternal human milk oligosaccharide (HMO) composition influences infant growth. Specific HMOs like 2'-fucosyllactose (2'FL) and lacto-N-neo-tetraose (LNnT) were linked to child height and weight, suggesting a role in early development.

Area of Science:

  • Human lactation and infant nutrition
  • Developmental pediatrics
  • Metabolomics and compositional analysis

Background:

  • Breastfeeding impacts infant growth and obesity risk.
  • The role of maternal variation in human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) in child growth programming is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the association between maternal HMO composition and child growth up to 5 years of age.
  • To assess the relationship between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and HMO composition.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of HMO composition in human milk samples from 802 mothers using HPLC.
  • Linking child growth data (3 months to 5 years) with maternal HMO data from a Finnish birth cohort study (STEPS).

Main Results:

  • Maternal HMO composition at 3 months postpartum was associated with child height and weight z-scores up to age 5 in secretor mothers.
  • Higher HMO diversity and lacto-N-neo-tetraose (LNnT) were inversely associated with child growth, while 2 -fucosyllactose (2 FL) was directly associated.
  • Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI was found to be associated with HMO composition.

Conclusions:

  • Maternal HMO composition may causally influence childhood growth, necessitating further preclinical and clinical investigation.
  • Investigating the role of specific HMOs like 2 FL and LNnT is crucial, as they are being added to infant formulas.
  • Altered HMO composition might mediate the effect of maternal pre-pregnancy BMI on childhood obesity, requiring further research into causal relationships.
Abstract

Keywords:
breastfeedingchildhood growthhuman milk oligosaccharidesinfant growthmaternal BMI

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