Human milk is a source of lactic acid bacteria for the infant gut
Abstract
Objectives To investigate whether human breast milk contains potentially probiotic lactic acid bacteria, and therefore, whether it can be considered a synbiotic food. Study design Lactic acid bacteria were isolated from milk, mammary areola, and breast skin of eight healthy mothers and oral swabs and feces of their respective breast-fed infants. Some isolates (178 from each mother and newborn pair) were randomly selected and submitted to randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) polymerase chain reaction analysis, and those that displayed identical RAPD patterns were identified by 16S rDNA sequencing.Results Within each mother and newborn pair, some rod-shaped lactic acid bacteria isolated from mammary areola, breast milk, and infant oral swabs and feces displayed identical RAPD profiles. All of them, independently from the mother and child pair, were identified as Lactobacillus gasseri. Similarly, among coccoid lactic acid bacteria from these different sources, some shared an identical RAPD pattern and were identified as Enterococcus faecium. In contrast, none of the lactic acid bacteria isolated from breast skin shared RAPD profiles with lactic acid bacteria of the other sources.Conclusions Breast-feeding can be a significant source of lactic acid bacteria to the infant gut. Lactic acid bacteria present in milk may have an endogenous origin and may not be the result of contamination from the surrounding breast skin.
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Breastfeeding provides an important source of lactic acid bacteria that enter the infant's body.
“This type of feeding provides an important source of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) that enter the infant's body [20,21].”
From Bioprophylactic potential of novel human colostrum probiotics via apoptotic induction of colon cancer cells and cell immune activation (2022) · cites this paper as [20]
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- Authors
- Martín, R., Langa, S., Reviriego, C., Jimínez, E., Marín, M. L., Xaus, J., Fernández, L., & Rodríguez, J. M.
- Affiliations
- Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES)
- Corresponding author
- Rodríguez, Juan M
- Venue
- The Journal of Pediatrics
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2003-12
- Volume
- 143
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 754-758
- ISSN
- 0022-3476 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1977313258
- Cited by
- 792
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 36 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 47 · 2021: 50 · 2020: 53 · 2019: 49 · 2018: 46 · 2017: 46 · 2016: 49 · 2015: 64 · 2014: 47 · 2013: 36 · 2012: 34
- FWCI
- 8.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Pediatrics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Infant Nutrition and Health
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Breastfeeding Practices and Influences
- Keywords
- breast milk, lactic acid bacteria, probiotics, synbiotics, breastfeeding, infant gut microbiota, Lactobacillus gasseri, Enterococcus faecium, breast skin, RAPD profiling, 16S rRNA gene sequencing
- MeSH terms
- Breast, Feces, Female, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Intestines, Lactobacillus, Milk, Human, Mouth Mucosa, Random Allocation, Skin, Vagina, Probiotics
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