Characteristics and Potential Functions of Human Milk Adiponectin

Abstract

Adiponectin is a protein hormone produced by adipose tissue whose circulating levels are inversely related to adiposity and inflammation. Adiponectin circulates as oligomers, from the low molecular weight trimer to the high molecular weight octodecamer (18mer) Each oligomer has distinct biological activities, which include enhancement of insulin sensitivity and metabolic control, and suppression of inflammation. Adiponectin occurs in human milk at higher concentrations than leptin. The adiponectin in human milk is almost entirely of the high molecular weight form, the form with the highest activity in controlling many types of metabolic processes. Human adiponectin fed to infant mice is transported across the intestinal mucosa into the serum. An inverse relationship between adiponectin levels in milk and adiposity (weight-for-height) of the breastfed infant was observed, and could be due to modulation of infant metabolism by milk adiponectin, and may be related to the observed protection against obesity by breastfeeding. Human milk may be a medium whereby the hormonal milieu (in response to internal factors and the environment) of the mother can be used to communicate with the breastfed infant to modify infant metabolic processes. Transmission of information from mother to infant through milk may allow adaptation to fluctuating environmental conditions. Keywords infant development; body weight; BMI; adiposity AdiponectinObesity in children has reached epidemic proportions, with obesity-related disorders that had typically been diseases of adults now occurring in children. Several reports describe an association between feeding human milk and reduced obesity later in life. Likewise, inflammatory bowel diseases are an increasingly important problem in pediatrics, and there is evidence of protection by human milk. The mechanisms by which human milk could provide , and all potential conflicts of interest have been disclosed to the NIH and are being managed by Massachusetts General Hospital and Cincinnati Children's Hospital, respectively. Jessica Woo, Ph.D. has no affiliation with entitles having financial interests in the subject discussed in this article. Mead Johnson Nutrition sponsored a symposium and provided an honorarium to participants. This review of the symposium presentation was written exclusively by the authors, who have no financial interests in production or sales of infant formula.Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. Adiponectin, a protein produced in adipose tissue, is a potent metabolic mediator that controls processes associated with obes...

Mount Pinatubo, Inflammatory Cytokines, and the Immunological Ecology of Aeta Hunter-Gatherers

“…Adiponectin is an adipocyte-secreted cytokine, or adipokine, involved in metabolic processes such as increasing insulin sensitivity and mediating inflammation (Newburg et al 2010). In particular, adiponectin reduces the production of proinflammatory cytokines while having potent anti-inflammatory effects across a wide range of tissues (Wulster-Radcliffe et al 2004;Zhou et al 2005).…”

“…Milk adiponectin derives from the transfer of maternal circulating adiponectin and/or synthesis in mammary tissue (Weyermann et al 2006). In general, lower infant weights and leaner body compositions are associated with higher levels of adiponectin, at least through the first six months of life (Newburg et al 2010; but see Woo et al 2012). The fact that of adiponectin levels in breast milk can fluctuate with maternal energy balance and also in response to preterm or underweight infants suggests that it plays a key role in mediating the adaptive responses of infant adipose tissues (Savino et al 2008(Savino et al , 2010aWoo et al 2009).…”

Field and laboratory methods in human milk research

“…Researchers have only begun to define normal milk variation across populations and how it influences the postnatal period and beyond (Neville et al, 2012). Many of the emerging questions in human biology are linked to lactation, from unique aspects of primate Milligan and Bazinet, 2008) and human life histories (Fujita et al, 2011), parental investment (Fujita et al, 2012;Hinde, 2009;Powe et al, 2010), and developmental programming (de Moura et al, 2008;Hinde and Capitano, 2010;Miralles et al, 2006;Newburg et al, 2010;Palou et al, 2009;Pico et al, 2007;Prentice, 2005;Quinn, 2011;Quinn et al, 2012;Savino et al, 2009;Stocker and Cawthorne, 2008;Weyerman et al, 2007). In addition, lactation is implicated in human evolutionary biology, including the evolution of large brains and body fat (Kuzawa, 1998;Martin, 1981), childhood (Bogin, 1999;Konner, 2010;Sellen, 2007), reproductive timing (Al-Sahab et al, 2011) and the developmental origins of adult metabolism (Kuzawa and Quinn, 2009;Wells, 2003).…”

Effects of Light Quality on the Concentration of Human Adiponectin in Transgenic Everbearing Strawberry

“…At this concentration, each hAdi strawberry fruit (ca. 5.5 g) contains the same amount of hAdi protein as 1 L of human milk (1.5 g hAdi per 100 mL milk; Newburg et al, 2010). Such a concentration of hAdi would make the use of an R light treatment profitable and consequently it should be possible to achieve commercial production of hAdi in the near future.…”

“…Our research group has succeeded in introducing some genes related to pharmaceutical and functional proteins into an everbearing strawberry, including genes encoding for human adiponectin (hAdi), bovine lactoferrin, bovine -lactalbumin and so on. All of these have been described as pharmaceutical and functional proteins for the anti-inflammatory activity (Yamaguchi et al, 2009) or prevention of lifestyle-related diseases of human, such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome (Kadowaki et al, 2006;Ushida et al, 2008;Newburg et al, 2010). We have previously reported the optimal environmental conditions for the micropropagation of seedlings , plant growth and fruit yield of non-transgenic everbearing strawberry in a closed plant production system (Miyazawa et al, 2009;Goto, 2011).…”