Feeding Expressed Breast Milk Alters the Microbial Network of Breast Milk and Increases Breast Milk Microbiome Diversity over Time.

ABSTRACT: Breastfeeding supplies nutrition, immunity, and hormonal cues to infants. Feeding expressed breast milk may result in de-phased milk production and feeding times, which distort the real-time circadian cues carried by breast milk. We hypothesized that providing expressed breast milk alters the microbiotas of both breast milk and the infant's gut. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the microbiota of serial breast milk and infant fecal samples obtained from 14 mother-infant dyads who were lactating, half of which were providing expressed breast milk. Infant fecal microbiota showed lower α-diversity than breast milk microbiota. Bacterial amplicon sequence variant sharing occurred between breast milk and infant feces with no feeding group differences. However, the age-dependent gain in breast

SUBMITTER: Woortman MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11767962 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature