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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutritional Epidemiology
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1455251

Human milk oligosaccharide profiles remain unaffected by maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index in an observational study

Provisionally accepted
Julie Astono Julie Astono 1*Yu-Ping Huang Yu-Ping Huang 2Ulrik K. Sundekilde Ulrik K. Sundekilde 1Daniela Barile Daniela Barile 2
  • 1 Department of Food Science, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
  • 2 Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Calfornia, Davis, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are important carbohydrates in human milk that infants cannot digest, acting as prebiotics linked to infant health. The risk of childhood obesity increases with maternal obesity, potentially mediated through the gut microbiota affected by the available HMOs. Studies on whether maternal obesity affects HMO abundance, yield conflicting results. This study aimed to investigate the HMO profile and its association with maternal obesity measured by pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and infant anthropometrics. The results were discussed in the context of existing literature. 90 human milk samples were collected at three months postpartum from mothers in three BMI-groups: 32 normal weight (BMI: 18.5-24.99 kg/m 2 ), 34 overweight (BMI: 25-30 kg/m 2 ), and 24 obese (BMI > 30 kg/m 2 ). The samples were analyzed using nano liquid chromatography chip quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry yielding 51 HMO structures and isomers. Their peak areas were integrated and normalized to determine relative abundances. Univariate and multivariate analysis showed associations between relative HMO abundance and donors' secretor status and specific infant anthropometric variables, but not with maternal pre-pregnancy BMI. This study does not support the hypothesis that maternal overweight influences the HMO profile and highlights the importance of reporting results despite absence of significant correlations.

    Keywords: human milk oligosaccharides, Obesity, Infant growth, Body Mass Index, infant nutrition

    Received: 26 Jun 2024; Accepted: 02 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Astono, Huang, Sundekilde and Barile. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Julie Astono, Department of Food Science, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.