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Early Human Development Nov 2015Breast milk is the perfect nutrition for infants, a result of millions of years of evolution, finely attuning it to the requirements of the infant. Breast milk contains... (Review)
Review
Breast milk is the perfect nutrition for infants, a result of millions of years of evolution, finely attuning it to the requirements of the infant. Breast milk contains many complex proteins, lipids and carbohydrates, the concentrations of which alter dramatically over a single feed, as well as over lactation, to reflect the infant's needs. In addition to providing a source of nutrition for infants, breast milk contains a myriad of biologically active components. These molecules possess diverse roles, both guiding the development of the infants immune system and intestinal microbiota. Orchestrating the development of the microbiota are the human milk oligosaccharides, the synthesis of which are determined by the maternal genotype. In this review, we discuss the composition of breast milk and the factors that affect it during the course of breast feeding. Understanding the components of breast milk and their functions will allow for the improvement of clinical practices, infant feeding and our understanding of immune responses to infection and vaccination in infants.
Topics: Breast Feeding; Female; Humans; Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Infant, Newborn; Lactation; Lipids; Milk Proteins; Milk, Human; Oligosaccharides
PubMed: 26375355
DOI: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2015.08.013 -
Pediatric Clinics of North America Feb 2013This article provides an overview of the composition of human milk, its variation, and its clinical relevance. The composition of human milk is the biological norm for... (Review)
Review
This article provides an overview of the composition of human milk, its variation, and its clinical relevance. The composition of human milk is the biological norm for infant nutrition. Human milk also contains many hundreds to thousands of distinct bioactive molecules that protect against infection and inflammation and contribute to immune maturation, organ development, and healthy microbial colonization. Some of these molecules (eg, lactoferrin) are being investigated as novel therapeutic agents. Human milk changes in composition from colostrum to late lactation, within feeds, by gestational age, diurnally, and between mothers. Feeding infants with expressed human milk is increasing.
Topics: Breast Milk Expression; Dietary Fats; Dietary Proteins; Female; Humans; Infant; Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Infant, Newborn; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; Lactation; Lactose; Micronutrients; Milk Banks; Milk, Human; Pasteurization
PubMed: 23178060
DOI: 10.1016/j.pcl.2012.10.002 -
Minerva Pediatrics Apr 2021From an evolutionary and nutritional standpoint, exclusive human milk feeding for the first 6 months of life, with continued breastfeeding for 1 to 2 years of life, is... (Review)
Review
From an evolutionary and nutritional standpoint, exclusive human milk feeding for the first 6 months of life, with continued breastfeeding for 1 to 2 years of life, is recognized as the gold standard nourishment for the infant: it is a species-specific food, with a composition designed by nature to better respond to the biological and psychological needs of the newborn/infant. Human milk contains many hundreds of bioactive molecules that protect newborn against infection and inflammation and contribute to immune maturation, organ development, and healthy microbial colonization. Compared with formula feeding, breastfeeding has been associated with decreased morbidity and mortality in infants and to lower incidence of gastrointestinal infections and inflammatory, respiratory and allergic disease. Here, we briefly review the nutritional and functional composition of human milk and provide an overview of its varied bioactive factors.
Topics: Breast Feeding; Female; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Humans; Immune System; Infant; Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Infant, Newborn; Milk, Human
PubMed: 33880902
DOI: 10.23736/S2724-5276.21.06223-X -
Nutrients Sep 2021Human breast milk (HBM) is not only an indispensable source of nutrients for early human growth and development, supplying components that support infant growth and... (Review)
Review
Human breast milk (HBM) is not only an indispensable source of nutrients for early human growth and development, supplying components that support infant growth and development, but also contains various essential immunologic components with anti-infectious activities and critical roles in the formation of immunity. It is also known that HBM contains its own unique microbiome, including beneficial, commensal, and potentially probiotic bacteria, that can contribute to infant gut colonization. In addition, HBM-derived extracellular vesicles, exosomes, and microRNA are attracting increasing interest for their potential to transfer to the infant and their role in infant development. In this article, we examine some of the various constituents in HBM and review the evidence supporting their associated health effects and their potential applications in human health.
Topics: Child Development; Female; Health Status; Humans; Immune System; Infant; Infant, Newborn; MicroRNAs; Microbiota; Milk, Human; Nutritive Value
PubMed: 34578971
DOI: 10.3390/nu13093094 -
Revista Da Associacao Medica Brasileira... Sep 2016In the critical phase of immunological immaturity of the newborn, particularly for the immune system of mucous membranes, infants receive large amounts of bioactive... (Review)
Review
In the critical phase of immunological immaturity of the newborn, particularly for the immune system of mucous membranes, infants receive large amounts of bioactive components through colostrum and breast milk. Colostrum is the most potent natural immune booster known to science. Breastfeeding protects infants against infections mainly via secretory IgA (SIgA) antibodies, but also via other various bioactive factors. It is striking that the defense factors of human milk function without causing inflammation; some components are even anti-inflammatory. Protection against infections has been well evidenced during lactation against, e.g., acute and prolonged diarrhea, respiratory tract infections, including otitis media, urinary tract infection, neonatal septicemia, and necrotizing enterocolitis. The milk's immunity content changes over time. In the early stages of lactation, IgA, anti-inflammatory factors and, more likely, immunologically active cells provide additional support for the immature immune system of the neonate. After this period, breast milk continues to adapt extraordinarily to the infant's ontogeny and needs regarding immune protection and nutrition. The need to encourage breastfeeding is therefore justifiable, at least during the first 6 months of life, when the infant's secretory IgA production is insignificant.
Topics: Colostrum; Humans; Immune System; Milk, Human
PubMed: 27849237
DOI: 10.1590/1806-9282.62.06.584 -
Nutrients Mar 2020The intestinal microbiome plays an important role in maintaining health throughout life. The microbiota develops progressively after birth and is influenced by many... (Review)
Review
The intestinal microbiome plays an important role in maintaining health throughout life. The microbiota develops progressively after birth and is influenced by many factors, including the mode of delivery, antibiotics, and diet. Maternal milk is critically important to the development of the neonatal intestinal microbiota. Different bioactive components of milk, such as human milk oligosaccharides, lactoferrin, and secretory immunoglobulins, modify the composition of the neonatal microbiota. In this article, we review the role of each of these maternal milk-derived bioactive factors on the microbiota and how this modulation of intestinal bacteria shapes health, and disease.
Topics: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Biodiversity; Breast Feeding; Female; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Humans; Immunoglobulin A, Secretory; Infant, Newborn; Lactoferrin; Milk Proteins; Milk, Human; Nutrients; Oligosaccharides
PubMed: 32244880
DOI: 10.3390/nu12030823 -
Nutrients Feb 2020Human breast milk is well known as the ideal source of nutrition during early life, ensuring optimal growth during infancy and early childhood. Breast milk is also the... (Review)
Review
Human breast milk is well known as the ideal source of nutrition during early life, ensuring optimal growth during infancy and early childhood. Breast milk is also the source of many unique and dynamic bioactive components that play a key role in the development of the immune system. These bioactive components include essential microbes, human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), immunoglobulins, lactoferrin and dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids. These factors all interact with intestinal commensal bacteria and/or immune cells, playing a critical role in establishment of the intestinal microbiome and ultimately influencing intestinal inflammation and gut health during early life. Exposure to breast milk has been associated with a decreased incidence and severity of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a devastating disease characterized by overwhelming intestinal inflammation and high morbidity among preterm infants. For this reason, breast milk is considered a protective factor against NEC and aberrant intestinal inflammation common in preterm infants. In this review, we will describe the key microbial, immunological, and metabolic components of breast milk that have been shown to play a role in the mechanisms of intestinal inflammation and/or NEC prevention.
Topics: Female; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Inflammation; Intestines; Milk, Human
PubMed: 32102231
DOI: 10.3390/nu12020581 -
Nutrients Mar 2021Human milk represents a cornerstone for growth and development of infants, with extensive array of benefits. In addition to exceptionally nutritive and bioactive... (Review)
Review
Human milk represents a cornerstone for growth and development of infants, with extensive array of benefits. In addition to exceptionally nutritive and bioactive components, human milk encompasses a complex community of signature bacteria that helps establish infant gut microbiota, contributes to maturation of infant immune system, and competitively interferes with pathogens. Among bioactive constituents of milk, human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are particularly significant. These are non-digestible carbohydrates forming the third largest solid component in human milk. Valuable effects of HMOs include shaping intestinal microbiota, imparting antimicrobial effects, developing intestinal barrier, and modulating immune response. Moreover, recent investigations suggest correlations between HMOs and milk microbiota, with complex links possibly existing with environmental factors, genetics, geographical location, and other factors. In this review, and from a physiological and health implications perspective, milk benefits for newborns and mothers are highlighted. From a microbiological perspective, a focused insight into milk microbiota, including origins, diversity, benefits, and effect of maternal diet is presented. From a metabolic perspective, biochemical, physiological, and genetic significance of HMOs, and their probable relations to milk microbiota, are addressed. Ongoing research into mechanistic processes through which the rich biological assets of milk promote development, shaping of microbiota, and immunity is tackled.
Topics: Bacteria; Female; Humans; Microbiota; Milk, Human; Oligosaccharides
PubMed: 33805503
DOI: 10.3390/nu13041123 -
Nestle Nutrition Institute Workshop... 2021Human milk is a dynamic, complex fluid that offers much more than nutrition to infants. The macronutrient content of human milk has been well characterized and... (Review)
Review
Human milk is a dynamic, complex fluid that offers much more than nutrition to infants. The macronutrient content of human milk has been well characterized and described. However, human milk is not a simple matrix of protein, carbohydrate, fat, and micronutrients. The National Institutes of Health have defined bioactives in food as elements that "affect biological processes or substrates and hence have an impact on body function or condition and ultimately health." Bioactives are cells, anti-infectious and anti-inflammatory agents, growth factors, and prebiotics that are naturally present in human milk. They may explain the differences in health outcomes observed between breastfed and non-breastfed infants. They influence the development of the immune and gastrointestinal systems, gut microbiota, neurodevelopment, metabolic health, and protection against infection. Human milk oligosaccharides are one bioactive that have been an increasingly popular area of research. This review provides a broad overview of some bioactive components that positively affect the immune system and touches on certain well-known growth factors present in human milk. Future research will look at the interplay of the multitude of bioactive components in human milk as a biological system and beyond singular compounds.
Topics: Animals; Breast Feeding; Female; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Humans; Infant; Milk; Milk, Human; Oligosaccharides; Prebiotics
PubMed: 35537434
DOI: 10.1159/000519401 -
Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition... May 2021The proteome is one of the most complicated and multifunctional components in human milk. Recently, numerous novel characteristics of the human milk proteome have been... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
The proteome is one of the most complicated and multifunctional components in human milk. Recently, numerous novel characteristics of the human milk proteome have been discovered, which are described and critically examined in this review.
RECENT FINDINGS
Recent human milk proteomics studies have focused on how external factors like geography and environment, or maternal and infant's factors affect the milk proteins, endogenous peptides, their posttransitional modifications (PTMs) and infant utilization. Most of these studies have shown that major protein and endogenous peptide profiles are similar for healthy women and infants. The human milk proteome has been expanded by providing novel insights into PTMs like glycosylation and phosphorylation, and how the proteins and peptides are digested and utilized by the infant. All human milk proteomics studies are subject to conditions in which the samples were collected, handled and stored.
SUMMARY
Significant technological advancements in mass spectrometry have considerably enabled a deeper and more comprehensive identification and characterization of the expanded human milk proteome. However, data concerning human milk from mothers with infections or illnesses and mothers nursing more vulnerable infants are still limited and the roles of the components of the human milk proteome have not yet been sufficiently elucidated.
Topics: Female; Humans; Infant; Mass Spectrometry; Milk Proteins; Milk, Human; Proteome; Proteomics
PubMed: 33660633
DOI: 10.1097/MCO.0000000000000742