Do human milk oligosaccharides protect against infant atopic disorders and food allergy?
Do human milk oligosaccharides protect against infant atopic disorders and food allergy?
Atopic disorders (AD), often coexistent with food allergy (FA), start developing in early life and have lifelong health consequences. Breastfeeding is thought to be protective against AD and FA, but the data are controversial, and mechanisms are not well understood. Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are complex carbohydrates that are abundant in human milk. These are thought to contribute to the development of the infant immune system by (i) promoting healthy microbiome, (ii) inhibiting pathogen binding to gut mucosa and (iii) modulating the immune system. Differences in microbiome composition between allergic and healthy infants have been observed, regardless of breastfeeding history. To date, limited studies have examined the preventive effects of HMOs on AD and FA in infants and current data relies on observation studies as trials of varying HMO intake through randomising individuals to breastfeeding are unethical. There is evidence for beneficial e ects of breastfeeding on lowering the risks of FA, eczema and asthma but there are inconsistencies amongst studies in the duration of breastfeeding, diagnostic criteria for AD and the age at which the outcome was assessed. Furthermore, current analytical methods primarily used today only allow detection of 16–20 major HMOs while more than 100 types have been identified. More large-scale longitudinal studies are required to investigate the role of HMO composition and the impact of changes over the lactation period in preventing AD and FA later in life.
Atopic disorders, Breastfeeding, Food allergy, Human milk oligosaccharides
1-12
Han, Soo Min
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Binia, Aristea
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Godfrey, Keith
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El-Heis, Sarah
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Cutfield, Wayne
a01589bd-5b82-49fa-89e1-137e6f59e24d
October 2020
Han, Soo Min
a5553445-90bc-46c1-9a6c-c7a1e5465a44
Binia, Aristea
33b90ad5-7794-48f1-843e-11a1b922126f
Godfrey, Keith
0931701e-fe2c-44b5-8f0d-ec5c7477a6fd
El-Heis, Sarah
6d7d2e03-3d63-4510-8b7e-fcbe4653db13
Cutfield, Wayne
a01589bd-5b82-49fa-89e1-137e6f59e24d
Han, Soo Min, Binia, Aristea, Godfrey, Keith, El-Heis, Sarah and Cutfield, Wayne
(2020)
Do human milk oligosaccharides protect against infant atopic disorders and food allergy?
Nutrients, 12 (10), , [3212].
(doi:10.3390/nu12103212).
Abstract
Atopic disorders (AD), often coexistent with food allergy (FA), start developing in early life and have lifelong health consequences. Breastfeeding is thought to be protective against AD and FA, but the data are controversial, and mechanisms are not well understood. Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are complex carbohydrates that are abundant in human milk. These are thought to contribute to the development of the infant immune system by (i) promoting healthy microbiome, (ii) inhibiting pathogen binding to gut mucosa and (iii) modulating the immune system. Differences in microbiome composition between allergic and healthy infants have been observed, regardless of breastfeeding history. To date, limited studies have examined the preventive effects of HMOs on AD and FA in infants and current data relies on observation studies as trials of varying HMO intake through randomising individuals to breastfeeding are unethical. There is evidence for beneficial e ects of breastfeeding on lowering the risks of FA, eczema and asthma but there are inconsistencies amongst studies in the duration of breastfeeding, diagnostic criteria for AD and the age at which the outcome was assessed. Furthermore, current analytical methods primarily used today only allow detection of 16–20 major HMOs while more than 100 types have been identified. More large-scale longitudinal studies are required to investigate the role of HMO composition and the impact of changes over the lactation period in preventing AD and FA later in life.
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nutrients_HMOsAllergy_published_2020.10.21
- Accepted Manuscript
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nutrients_HMOsAllergy_Figure 1caption
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 20 October 2020
e-pub ahead of print date: 21 October 2020
Published date: October 2020
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
Conflicts of Interest: K.M.G. has received reimbursement for speaking at conferences sponsored by companies selling nutritional products and is part of an academic consortium that has received research funding from Abbott Nutrition, BenevolentAI Bio Ltd. (London, UK) and Danone. K.M.G. and W.S.C. have received research funding from Nestec.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Keywords:
Atopic disorders, Breastfeeding, Food allergy, Human milk oligosaccharides
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 444864
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/444864
ISSN: 2072-6643
PURE UUID: dba6ec99-0928-40df-96a9-5e8e9f299bee
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Date deposited: 06 Nov 2020 17:34
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:37
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Author:
Soo Min Han
Author:
Aristea Binia
Author:
Sarah El-Heis
Author:
Wayne Cutfield
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