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What’s normal? Oligosaccharide concentrations and profiles in milk produced by healthy women vary geographically ,

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McGuire, Michelle K, Meehan, Courtney L, McGuire, Mark A, Williams, Janet E, Foster, James, Sellen, Daniel W, Kamau-Mbuthia, Elizabeth W, Kamundia, Egidioh W, Mbugua, Samwel, Moore, Sophie E, Prentice, Andrew M, Kvist, Linda J, Otoo, Gloria E, Brooker, Sarah L, Price, William J, Shafii, Bahman, Placek, Caitlyn, Lackey, Kimberly A, Robertson, Bianca, Manzano, Susana, Ruíz, Lorena, Rodríguez, Juan M, Pareja, Rossina G, Bode, Lars·2017·The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Abstract

Background: Human milk is a complex fluid comprised of myriad substances, with one of the most abundant substances being a group of complex carbohydrates referred to as human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs). There has been some evidence that HMO profiles differ in populations, but few studies have rigorously explored this variability. Objectives: We tested the hypothesis that HMO profiles differ in diverse populations of healthy women. Next, we examined relations between HMO and maternal anthropometric and reproductive indexes and indirectly examined whether differences were likely related to genetic or environmental variations. Design: In this cross-sectional, observational study, milk was collected from a total of 410 healthy, breastfeeding women in 11 international cohorts and analyzed for HMOs by using high-performance liquid chromatography. Results: There was an effect of the cohort (P < 0.05) on concentrations of almost all HMOs. For instance, the mean 3-fucosyllactose concentration was >4 times higher in milk collected in Sweden than in milk collected in rural Gambia (mean ± SEM: 473 ± 55 compared with 103 ± 16 nmol/mL, respectively; P < 0.05), and disialyllacto-N-tetraose (DSLNT) concentrations ranged from 216 ± 14 nmol/mL (in Sweden) to 870 ± 68 nmol/mL (in rural Gambia) (P < 0.05). Maternal age, time postpartum, weight, and body mass index were all correlated with several HMOs, and multiple differences in HMOs [e.g., lacto-N-neotetrose and DSLNT] were shown between ethnically similar (and likely genetically similar) populations who were living in different locations, which suggests that the environment may play a role in regulating the synthesis of HMOs. Conclusions: The results of this study support our hypothesis that normal HMO concentrations and profiles vary geographically, even in healthy women. Targeted genomic analyses are required to determine whether these differences are due at least in part to genetic variation. A careful examination of sociocultural, behavioral, and environmental factors is needed to determine their roles in this regard. This study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02670278.

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Metadata

Authors
McGuire, M. K., Meehan, C. L., McGuire, M. A., Williams, J. E., Foster, J., Sellen, D. W., Kamau-Mbuthia, E. W., Kamundia, E. W., Mbugua, S., Moore, S. E., Prentice, A. M., Kvist, L. J., Otoo, G. E., Brooker, S. L., Price, W. J., Shafii, B., Placek, C., Lackey, K. A., Robertson, B., Manzano, S., Ruíz, L., Rodríguez, J. M., Pareja, R. G., & Bode, L.
Venue
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2017-05
Volume
105
Issue
5
Pages
1086-1100
ISSN
0002-9165 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2598642800
Cited by
398
References
50
FWCI
25.40
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
hybrid

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: What’s normal? Oligosaccharide concentrations and profiles in milk produced by healthy women vary geographically ,. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.3945/ajcn.116.139980
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McGuire, M. K., Meehan, C. L., McGuire, M. A., Williams, J. E., Foster, J., Sellen, D. W., Kamau-Mbuthia, E. W., Kamundia, E. W., Mbugua, S., Moore, S. E., Prentice, A. M., Kvist, L. J., Otoo, G. E., Brooker, S. L., Price, W. J., Shafii, B., Placek, C., Lackey, K. A., Robertson, B., . . . Bode, L. (2017). What’s normal? Oligosaccharide concentrations and profiles in milk produced by healthy women vary geographically ,. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.116.139980

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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).

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