Human milk composition differs in healthy mothers and mothers with celiac disease

Abstract

CD mothers' breast milk is characterized by a reduced abundance of immunoprotective compounds (TGF-β1 and sIgA) and bifidobacteria. The reduction in these components could theoretically diminish the protective effects of breast-feeding on the child's future risk of developing CD.

Systematic Review of the Human Milk Microbiota

“…Six studies evaluated healthy mothers exclusively, while the remaining 6 compared healthy mothers with mothers who were overweight, were undergoing chemotherapy, and had celiac disease, mastitis, or breast milk jaundice. The definition of maternal health status varied among studies; 6 studies cited the absence of medical conditions, 10 , 12 , 21 , 22 , 24 , 26 1 used maternal self‐report, 13 and 5 did not specify how maternal health was defined 4 , 6 , 17 , 19 , 20 . Aseptic milk collection techniques differed with respect to use of chlorhexidine 21 ; a combination of soap, sterile water, and chlorhexidine 6 , 12 , 24 ; iodine 13 , 22 , 26 ; aseptic soap 28 ; sterile swabs 17 ; sterile gloves 19 ; sterile collection bag 20 ; or undefined 16 .…”

“…The mission of the Human Microbiome Project is to characterize the human microbiome from multiple body sites, but the investigators did not include human milk as one of the 18 anatomical regions or body sites of interest 9 . Nonetheless, independent studies have analyzed the human milk microbiota 3 , 6 , 7 , 10 – 26 . Early studies using cultured breast milk isolated only a limited number of genera 6 .…”

Immunoglobulin A and nutrients in milk from great apes throughout lactation

“…Despite its potential importance, studies evaluating sIgA concentration in non‐human apes are lacking, whereas data regarding sIgA concentration is available for humans from a wide range of populations (Breakey et al, ; Goldman, Garza, Nichols, & Goldblum, ; Hennart, Brasseur, Delogne‐Desnoeck, Dramaix, & Robyn, ; Kawano and Emori, ; Miller and McConnell, ; Olivares et al, ; Smilowitz et al, ; Weaver, Arthur, Bunn, & Thomas, ). In a study of Japanese women, milk sIgA was greater than 2,000 mg/L within a few days of parturition, declining to about 1,000 mg/L by 8–12 wk postpartum (Kawano and Emori, ).…”

“…Women who experienced gestational diabetes produce milk with lower‐on‐average sIgA content (Smilowitz et al, ). Mothers with celiac disease also produce milk with lower sIgA concentration (Olivares et al, ). The gorillas and orangutans in this study were all healthy, with no signs of disease, either acute or chronic, that may have affected their milk sIgA concentration.…”

Investigating the early metabolic fingerprint of celiac disease – a prospective approach

“…Individuals with HLA-DQ2/DQ-8 haplotypes have increased immunological responsiveness to prolamins such as dietary wheat gliadin due to the CDassociated HLA-DQ molecules that bind gluten peptides with a superior ability than the other HLA-molecules [3]. It was found that the HLA-DQ genotype influences the early gut microbial colonization [32,33]. As the metabolome is influenced by the microbiome [34], these findings suggest an altered metabolic profile according to the HLA-risk group which however was not confirmed by this study of infants early before onset of CD.…”