Associations between SARS-CoV-2 Infection or COVID-19 Vaccination and Human Milk Composition: A Multi-Omics Approach

The risk of contracting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) via human milk-feeding is virtually nonexistent. Adverse effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination for lactating individuals are not different from the general population, and no evidence has been found that their infants exhibit adverse effects. Yet, there remains substantial hesitation among this population globally regarding the safety of these vaccines.

Herein, we aimed to determine if compositional changes in milk occur following SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 vaccination, including any evidence of vaccine components.

An extensive multiomics approach was taken using a subset of milk samples obtained as part of our broad studies examining the effects on milk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccination.

We found that compared with unvaccinated individuals, SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with significant compositional differences in 67 proteins, 385 lipids, and 13 metabolites. In contrast, COVID-19 vaccination was not associated with any changes in lipids or metabolites, although it was associated with changes in 13 or fewer proteins. Compositional changes in milk differed by vaccine. Changes following vaccination were greatest after 1-6 h for the mRNA-based Moderna vaccine (8 changed proteins), 3 d for the mRNA-based Pfizer (4 changed proteins), and adenovirus-based Johnson and Johnson (13 changed proteins) vaccines. Proteins that changed after both natural infection and Johnson and Johnson vaccine were associated mainly with systemic inflammatory responses. In addition, no vaccine components were detected in any milk sample.

Together, our data provide evidence of only minimal changes in milk composition because of COVID-19 vaccination, with much greater changes after natural SARS-CoV-2 infection.