Gestational Diabetes, the Human Milk Metabolome, and Infant Growth and Adiposity.

Importance: Gestational diabetes (GD) is linked to health risks for the birthing parent and infant. The outcomes of GD on human milk composition are mostly unknown.

Objective: To determine associations between GD, the human milk metabolome, and infant growth and body composition.

Organoclay flocculation as a pathway to export carbon from the sea surface.

Marine microorganisms play a critical role in regulating atmospheric CO concentration via the biological carbon pump. Deposition of continental mineral dust on the sea surface increases carbon sequestration but the interaction between minerals and marine microorganisms is not well understood. We discovered that the interaction of clay minerals with dissolved organic matter and a γ-proteobacterium in seawater increases Transparent Exopolymer Particle (TEP) concentration, leading to organoclay floc formation.

Hidden: A Baker's Dozen Ways in Which Research Reporting is Less Transparent than it Could be and Suggestions for Implementing Einstein's Dictum.

The tutelage of our mentors as scientists included the analogy that writing a good scientific paper was an exercise in storytelling that omitted unessential details that did not move the story forward or that detracted from the overall message. However, the advice to not get lost in the details had an important flaw. In science, it is the many details of the data themselves and the methods used to generate and analyze them that give conclusions their probative meaning.

Applying genetic technologies to combat infectious diseases in aquaculture.

Disease and parasitism cause major welfare, environmental and economic concerns for global aquaculture. In this review, we examine the status and potential of technologies that exploit genetic variation in host resistance to tackle this problem. We argue that there is an urgent need to improve understanding of the genetic mechanisms involved, leading to the development of tools that can be applied to boost host resistance and reduce the disease burden.

Characterisation and validation of lactation information from structured electronic health records for use in pharmacoepidemiological studies.

Background: Breastfeeding information stored within electronic health records (EHR) has recently been used for pharmacoepidemiological research, however the data are primarily collected for clinical care.

Objectives: To characterise breastfeeding information recorded in structured fields in EHR during infant and postpartum health care visits, and to assess the validity of lactation status based on EHR data versus maternal report at research study visits.

Methods: We assessed breastfeeding information recorded in structured fields in EHR from one health system for a subset of 211 patients who were also enrolled in a study on breast milk composition between 2014 and 2017 that required participants to exclusively breastfeed their infants until at least 1 month of age.

Assembly, stability, and dynamics of the infant gut microbiome are linked to bacterial strains and functions in mother's milk.

The establishment of the gut microbiome in early life is critical for healthy infant development. Although human milk is recommended as the sole source of nutrition for the human infant, little is known about how variation in milk composition, and especially the milk microbiome, shapes the microbial communities in the infant gut. Here, we quantified the similarity between the maternal milk and the infant gut microbiome using 507 metagenomic samples collected from 195 mother-infant pairs at one, three, and six months postpartum.

Effects of airgun discharges used in seismic surveys on development and mortality in nauplii of the copepod Acartia tonsa.

Seismic surveys are conducted worldwide to explore for oil and gas deposits and to map subsea formations. The airguns used in these surveys emit low-frequency sound waves. Studies on zooplankton responses to airguns report a range of effects, from none to substantial mortality.

Revisiting One-Carbon Metabolites in Human Breast Milk: Focus on S-Adenosylmethionine.

Breastfeeding is the gold standard for early nutrition. Metabolites from the one-carbon metabolism pool are crucial for infant development. The aim of this study is to compare the breast-milk one-carbon metabolic profile to other biofluids where these metabolites are present, including cord and adult blood plasma as well as cerebrospinal fluid.

Stability of Human-Milk Oligosaccharide Concentrations Over 1 Week of Lactation and Over 6 Hours Following a Standard Meal.

Background: Our previous studies revealed that human-milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) have health benefits for nursing infants and their concentrations change dynamically over 24 mo 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.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the stability of HMO concentrations over 7 d and in response to a standard meal and sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) over 6 h.

Bone Mass Accrual in First Six Months of Life: Impact of Maternal Diabetes, Infant Adiposity, and Cord Blood Adipokines.

The perinatal period is a time of substantial bone mass accrual with many factors affecting long-term bone mineralization. Currently it is unclear what effect maternal gestational/type 2 diabetes has on infant bone mass accrual. This is a prospective study of offspring of Native American and Hispanic mothers with normoglycemia (n = 94) and gestational diabetes or type 2 diabetes (n = 64).

Changes in Chemical Composition and Copepod Toxicity during Petroleum Photo-oxidation.

Photoproducts can be formed rapidly in the initial phase of a marine oil spill. However, their toxicity is not well understood. In this study, oil was irradiated, chemically characterized, and tested for toxicity in three copepod species (, , and ).

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Is Associated with Differences in Human Milk Hormone and Cytokine Concentrations in a Fully Breastfeeding United States Cohort.

It is unclear whether gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) alters breast milk composition. We prospectively examined associations of GDM status with concentrations of six potentially bioactive elements (glucose, insulin, C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), leptin, and adiponectin) in human milk. These were measured at both 1 and 3 months postpartum in 189 fully breastfeeding women.

Infant sex differences in human milk intake and composition from 1- to 3-month post-delivery in a healthy United States cohort.

Background: Macronutrient composition of human milk differs by infant sex, but few studies have examined sex differences in other milk components, or their potential modification by maternal body mass index (BMI).

Aim: We compared milk intake and human milk hormone and cytokine concentrations at 1- and 3-month post-delivery and tested infant sex by maternal BMI (OW/OB NW) interactions.

Subjects And Method: Data were analysed for 346 mother-infant dyads in the Mothers and Infants Linked for Healthy Growth (MILk) Study at 1- and 3-month post-delivery.

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Is Associated with Altered Abundance of Exosomal MicroRNAs in Human Milk.

Purpose: Human milk (HM) is a unique biological fluid that is enriched with a variety of factors, including microRNAs (miRNAs) that potentially provide both short- and long-term benefits to the infants. miRNAs are packaged within exosomes, making them bioavailable to infants. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) may affect the abundance of exosomal miRNAs in HM, providing a mechanism for growth and adiposity variation in infants of mothers with GDM in early life.

Bioactive compounds in mothers milk affecting offspring outcomes: A narrative review.

Background: Compared to the exhaustive study of transgenerational programming of obesity and diabetes through exposures in the prenatal period, postnatal programming mechanisms are understudied, including the potential role of breast milk composition linking maternal metabolic status (body mass index and diabetes) and offspring growth, metabolic health and future disease risk.

Methods: This narrative review will principally focus on four emergent bioactive compounds [microRNA's (miRNA), lipokines/signalling lipids, small molecules/metabolites and fructose] that, until recently were not known to exist in breast milk. The objective of this narrative review is to integrate evidence across multiple fields of study that demonstrate the importance of these compositional elements of breast milk during lactation and the subsequent effect of breast milk components on the health of the infant.

Gene expression and epigenetic responses of the marine Cladoceran, , and the copepod, , to elevated CO.

Characterizing the capacity of marine organisms to adapt to climate change related drivers (e.g., pCO and temperature), and the possible rate of this adaptation, is required to assess their resilience (or lack thereof) to these drivers.

Maternal Psychological Distress and Lactation and Breastfeeding Outcomes: a Narrative Review.

Purpose: Despite recommendations from the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics to exclusively breastfeed infants for their first 6 months of life, 75% of women do not meet exclusive breastfeeding guidelines, and 60% do not meet their own breastfeeding goals. Numerous observational studies have linked maternal psychological distress (eg, perceived stress, anxiety, and depression) with nonoptimal breastfeeding outcomes, such as decreased proportion and duration of exclusive breastfeeding. The physiological mechanisms underlying these associations, however, remain unclear.

Human Milk Glucose, Leptin, and Insulin Predict Cessation of Full Breastfeeding and Initiation of Formula Use.

We aimed to investigate prospective associations between milk bioactives related to metabolic health (glucose, insulin, leptin, C reactive protein [CRP], and interleukin 6 [IL-6]) and incident formula initiation at 3 and 6 months postpartum. This study included 363 mother-infant dyads who were fully breastfed at 1 month and participated in the prospective Mothers and Infants Linked for Healthy Growth study from pregnancy to 6 months postpartum. Associations between milk glucose, leptin, insulin, CRP, and IL-6 at 1 and 3 months and incident formula feeding (FF) at 3 and 6 months, respectively, were tested using multiple logistic regression, adjusting for numerous potential confounders such as maternal age and prepregnancy body mass index.