A Comparison of Nutritional Antioxidant Content in Breast Milk, Donor Milk, and Infant Formulas

Abstract

Human milk is the optimal food for human infants, including infants born prematurely. In the event that a mother of a hospitalized infant cannot provide breast milk, donor milk is considered an acceptable alternative. It is known that the macronutrient composition of donor milk is different than human milk, with variable fat content and protein content. However, much less is known about the micronutrient content of donor milk, including nutritional antioxidants. Samples of breast milk from 12 mothers of infants hospitalized in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit until were collected and analyzed for concentrations of nutritional antioxidants, including α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, lutein + zeaxanthin, retinol, and α-tocopherol. Additionally, a homogenized sample of donor milk available from a commercial milk bank and samples of infant formulas were also analyzed. Concentrations of nutritional antioxidants were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography. Compared to breast milk collected from mothers of hospitalized infants, commercially available donor milk had 18%–53% of the nutritional antioxidant content of maternal breast milk. As donor milk is becoming a common nutritional intervention for the high risk preterm infant, the nutritional antioxidant status of donor milk–fed premature infants and outcomes related to oxidative stress may merit further investigation.

Human milk as a protective factor for bronchopulmonary dysplasia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Studies have shown that an important cause of BPD is oxidative stress, which may be due to mechanical ventilation, infection and other causes 42. Early cumulative supplemental oxygen exposure is independently associated with BPD 45.…”

Biological Redox Impact of Tocopherol Isomers Is Mediated by Fast Cytosolic Calcium Increases in Living Caco-2 Cells

“…This pattern of abundance for non-α-tocopherols is also evident in 29 species of beans, in which γ-tocopherol and δ-tocopherol were the most abundant isomers, with only a discrete amount of α-tocopherol [7]. Interestingly, δ-tocopherol has also been detected in human milk (2.8 µM) [8][9][10]. Therefore, it is clear that early in life during breastfeeding or from the diet in adulthood, we are exposed not only to α-tocopherol but to all the isomers.…”

Donor Human Milk Protects against Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Although evidence exists regarding the protective effects of MOM in reducing the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), late-onset sepsis (LOS), and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in VLBW infants, questions remain regarding whether DHM provides the same benefits [5,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Numerous MOM components which could contribute to protect against adverse outcomes of prematurity are reduced or absent in DHM which is usually pasteurized [14][15][16].…”