Abstract
Background: Our previous studies revealed that human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) have health benefits for nursing infants and their concentrations change dynamically over 24-months of lactation. Yet, the extent to which HMOs vary over the short-term (days) and in response to acute factors such as maternal diet is unclear.Objectives: The purpose of this study is to determine the stability of HMO concentrations over 7-days and in response to a standard meal and sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) over 6-hours.Methods: In this ancillary study, lactating mothers were enrolled at 6-weeks postpartum. Participants received in-person instructions and materials to complete procedures at home. In the one-week experiment (N = 11), mothers pumped a milk sample at 07:00-hours for 7-consecutive days. In the 6-hour experiment (N = 35), mothers pumped a milk sample after an overnight fast at 06:00-hours and then consumed a standard meal plus SSB provided by the study team. Mothers pumped a milk sample every hour for 6-consecutive hours. Samples were analyzed for the 19 most abundant HMOs. Repeated measures ANOVA was used to test changes in HMO concentrations over time, reported as F(dftime, dferror) = F-value, P-value.Results: Concentrations of all assayed HMOs were stable over 7-consecutive days, including, for example, the most widely studied HMOs in relation to infant health, 2'-fucosyllactose (2'FL) (F(2,17) = 0.39, P = 0.65), disialyl-lacto-N-tetraose (DSLNT) (F(4, 37) = 0.60, P = 0.66), and lacto-N-neotetraose (LNnT) (F(3, 32) = 1.5, P = 0.23). Concentrations of all assayed HMOs were stable in response to a standard meal plus SSB. For example, fasted baseline concentrations of 2'FL, DSLNT, and LNnT were 2310 ± 1620 μg/mL, 560 ± 290 μg/mL, and 630 ± 290 μg/mL, respectively, and there were no changes in 2'FL (F(4, 119) = 1.9, P = 0.13), DSLNT (F(4, 136) = 0.39, P = 0.83), and LNnT (F(4, 120) = 0.64, P = 0.63) over 6-consecutive hours.Conclusions: HMO concentrations are stable over one-week of lactation and are not acutely affected by a standard meal plus SSB in mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]