Prebiotics in New-Born and Children’s Health

Abstract

At present, prebiotics, like probiotics, are receiving more attention as a promising tool for health maintenance. Many studies have recognized the role of prebiotics in preventing and treating various illnesses including metabolic disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, and allergies. Naturally, prebiotics are introduced to the human body in the first few hours of life as the mother breastfeeds the newborn. Prebiotic human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are the third largest constituent of human breastmilk. Studies have proven that HMOs modulate an infant’s microbial composition and assist in the development of the immune system. Due to some health conditions of the mother or beyond the recommended age for breastfeeding, infants are fed with formula. Few types of prebiotics have been incorporated into formula to yield similar beneficial impacts similar to breastfeeding. Synthetic HMOs have successfully mimicked the bifidogenic effects of breastmilk. However, studies on the effectiveness and safety of consumption of these synthetic HMOs are highly needed before massive commercial production. With the introduction of solid foods after breastfeeding or formula feeding, children are exposed to a range of prebiotics that contribute to further shaping and maturing their gut microbiomes and gastrointestinal function. Therefore, this review evaluates the functional role of prebiotic interventions in improving microbial compositions, allergies, and functional gastrointestinal disorders in children.

Post Natal Microbial and Metabolite Transmission: The Path from Mother to Infant

“…Regarding the HMDB annotation of some metabolites found in this work, B-trisaccharide is a metabolite found in a variety of animal-derived foods. A previous study has found this substance in urine after galactose administration [90], and it might also be a prebiotic (HMO) present in HM [91]. Neocasomorphin, found in our HM samples, is a casein-derived peptide with opioid function [92].…”

Molecular cloning, characterisation and molecular modelling of two novel T-synthases from mollusc origin

“… 2022 ; Selvamani et al. 2023 ). Due to the fact, that invertebrate enzymes do not need the help of the molecular chaperone Cosmc for proper folding, they may be in the future an interesting alternative for the metabolic engineering of expression systems established for the production of medically relevant oligosaccharides.…”

“…Especially infant gut microbiota benefit from those glycans ( Zhang et al. 2022 ; Selvamani et al. 2023 ).…”

“… 2022 ; Selvamani et al. 2023 ). Further studies must be done to exactly evaluate the role of T-synthases in molluscs and their potential industrial applications.…”