Concentrations of Carotenoids and Tocopherols in Breast Milk from Urban Chinese Mothers and Their Associations with Maternal Characteristics: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Milk composition remains the best estimate of infant requirements. The aims of this study were to quantify carotenoids and tocopherols in human milk from healthy Chinese mothers, and to explore their associations with lactation stage, region, socio-economic and obstetric characteristics, and dietary intake. Human milk was obtained from 509 healthy mothers, and concentrations of carotenoids and tocopherols were analyzed by Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography. The mothers’ socio-economic and obstetric characteristics and dietary intake through a single 24-h dietary recall were evaluated. The median concentrations (μg/100 mL) of each component of 0–4 days, 5–11 days, 12–30 days, 31–60 days, 61–120 days, and 121–240 days postpartum were respectively as follows: β-carotene 8.0, 2.8, 2.1, 1.7, 1.9, 1.8; β-cryptoxanthin 6.2, 3.4, 2.4, 1.7, 1.8, 2.1; lutein 5.7, 7.0, 2.2, 2.9, 2.8, 3.7; lycopene 6.3, 2.5, 1.8, 1.4, 1.4, 1.5; zeaxanthin 1.0, 1.4, 0.8, 0.8, 1.0, 1.1; α-tocopherol 645, 382, 239, 206, 212, 211; γ-tocopherol 68, 63, 70, 73, 68, 88. The levels of those components varied significantly among different lactation stages and presented regional differences. Associations of carotenoid contents with maternal education, delivery mode, and present body mass index were found in multivariate analyses. These results suggested that lactation stage, region, and socio-economic and obstetric factors were associated with human milk concentrations of carotenoids and tocopherols in healthy Chinese mothers.

An Overview of Carotenoids, Apocarotenoids, and Vitamin A in Agro‐Food, Nutrition, Health, and Disease

“…Carotenoids are universally present components in the human diet and are known to be present in colostrum and mature milk from mothers . The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly accepted the Generally Recognized As Safe declarations made by supplement manufacturers for several carotenoid‐rich products, including palm oil carotenoids, several lutein‐containing, zeaxanthin‐containing, and lycopene‐containing products, some of them tomato‐based and also contain the colorless carotenoids phytoene and phytofluene…”

Changes in breast milk lutein concentrations and their associations with dietary lutein intake: a 12-week prospective analytical study

“…With the help of doctors in Liuyang maternal and child care service centre, we invited breast-feeding mothers to participate with a poster and recruited subjects. The concentrations of lutein in breast milk ranged from 3 to 44 (SD 18) μg/l (12,13) and 22-70 μg/l in China (14) , with a probability of 0•05 and confidence level of 95 %; we calculated a reference range for the sample size according to the sample size calculation equation…”

“…). With references to other studies (14,18) (the range of sample size is 13-540), we determined the sample size ranging from thirty to forty per group. Finally, a total of forty-four lactating women were recruited, and thirty-seven of them finished the follow up with seven lost.…”

“…The determination method of lutein was referred to Khachik classic method and was slightly modified. Validation of characteristics such as specificity, linearity, limit of detection, limit of quantification, accuracy and precision were valued in the previous literature (14,19,20) . Frozen human milk was thawed overnight at room temperature, 0•2 ml of internal standard (2•5 ng/ml in ethanol), 0•02 g of butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), 1 ml of ethanol containing 0•1 % BHT and 20 μl of aqueous solution of potassium hydroxide (KOH) (20 %, w/w) were added successively to 1 ml of milk in a 5-ml tube.…”

“…Several studies have compared the breast milk lutein concentrations in several countries, and the results showed that the mean values of breast milk lutein concentrations were 25 (SD 19) μg/l and the concentrations showed notable differences in different regions, ranging from 3 to 44 (SD 18) μg/l (12,13) . In China, Xue et al (14) reported that the concentration range of lutein in breast milk on 240 d postpartum was 22-70 μg/l from a cross-sectional study, but there was no cohort study on the changes in breast milk lutein concentrations over time in Chinese women. Furthermore, some studies reported positive correlations between breast milk lutein concentrations and dietary lutein intake in several countries, such as Italy and South Korea (15,16) .…”