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Human milkoligosaccharides: Role in lactation and infant formulas
Mónica Del Compare1,2, Adriana Fernández3, Omar Tabacco4
1Hospital Pediátrico Federico Falcón, Del Viso, Argentina.
None:
Human milk oligosaccharides (HMO) are the specific and selective growth substrate for bifidobacteria, preventing pathogen adhesion, modulating the immune system, and impacting neurodevelopment. Human milk is the best food for the neonate; infant formulas enriched with HMOs are indicated when human milk is not possible or sufficient. HMOs developed and added to available infant formulas are 2'-FL (2'-fucosyl lactose), 3-FL (3-fucosyl lactose), 3'-SL (3'-sialyl lactose), 6'-SL (6'-sialyl lactose), LNT (lacto-N-tetraose), and 3'-GL (3'-galactosyl lactose), the latter being produced in situ by microbial fermentation. These HMOs are safe and contribute to satisfactory infant development. In addition, they were shown to promote the development of the intestinal microbiota in a way that is more similar to that of infants fed human milk than that of infants fed formula without HMOs.
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