Protein levels and protease activity in milk from mothers of pre-term infants: A prospective longitudinal study of human milk macronutrient composition. | LitMetric
School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. Electronic address:
Published: May 2021
AI Article Synopsis
Article Abstract
Background And Aims: The composition and enzymology of human milk changes throughout the lactation period, and differ for mothers who give birth prematurely compared to those who deliver at full-term. Understanding the composition of milk from mothers of very low birth weight premature infants is of great significance, and the objective of this study was to evaluate the composition, protein profile and plasmin activity of milk from mothers who delivered infants at different gestational ages.
Methods: Samples of human milk were donated by women (n = 74) in the Cork, Ireland, area who gave birth to full-term (>37 weeks gestation, FT), pre-term (32-37 weeks, PT) and very pre-term (≤32 weeks, VPT) infants. FT milk was collected at 1, 3, 6 and 10 weeks post-partum (PP), while PT and VPT milk was collected weekly until the FT due date of the infant and subsequently followed the FT protocol.
Results: Gestational age did not significantly affect lactose or fat content or total energy content of milk. However, protein content, and levels of some individual proteins, were significantly affected by both gestational age at birth and duration of lactation, with significantly higher protein levels in PT or VPT milk samples at 0-7 days and 1-2 months, respectively. Plasmin activity was significantly higher in VPT milk, indicating differences in proteolytic processing in milk.
Conclusion: Compositional differences between the milk of mothers of term and pre-term infants were greatest in terms of the protein profile, which showed both qualitative and quantitative differences, as well as difference in proteolytic activity.
Background: Human breast milk, a naturally balanced source of infant nutrition, promotes optimal growth and health when exclusively fed for 6 months. Exclusive breastfeeding reduces common childhood infections, provides protection against some chronic illnesses, and contributes to achieving several Sustainable Development Goals. Despite its benefits, only 58% of Ethiopian women practice it, and the associated education-related inequality is not well documented.
Objectives: This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the frequency of breast refusal (BR), associated factors including postpartum depression and breastfeeding self-efficacy, and investigate the recovery status following BR.
Methods: The survey comprised four sections, to investigate the sociodemographic characteristics of mothers and their babies, Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form (BSES-SF), the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) of mothers, and features associated with BR. The survey was administered online to those with babies aged 0-24 months.
This study aimed to investigate the influence of newborns' sex on the concentrations of minor and trace elements in the human milk of lactating mothers during early lactation. The elemental analysis focused on calcium (Ca), potassium (K), sodium (Na), and chlorine (Cl) as minor elements and iodine (I), aluminum (Al), bromine (Br), and rubidium (Rb) as trace elements. Breast milk samples were collected from 75 lactating mothers in Tehran, Iran, during the early feeding stage.
Breastmilk is known to provide optimal nutrition for infant growth and development. A cross-sectional analysis of nationally representative US data from 2016 to 2021 revealed that >90% of lactating mothers reported using breast pumps to express milk. We conducted a survey of = 1,049 lactating or recently lactating individuals from a US nationally representative population to explore breastmilk storage practices among this group.
Background: Infants exposed to HIV but uninfected have altered immune profiles which include heightened systemic inflammation. The mechanism(s) underlying this phenomenon is unknown. Here, we investigated differences in neonatal gut bacterial and viral microbiome and associations with inflammatory biomarkers in plasma.
