Human Milk Bioactive Compounds and Allergic- and Infectious-Related Infant Outcomes: A Systematic Review - PubMed
5 days ago
- #human-milk
- #infant-health
- #bioactive-compounds
- Human Milk (HM) bioactive compounds play a crucial role in infant immune system development and disease prevention.
- Allergic-related conditions like food allergy and atopic dermatitis are inversely associated with HM linolenic and linoleic acid.
- Infants with atopic dermatitis showed lower total omega-3 levels, suggesting a potential protective role of omega-3.
- Infectious-related conditions like diarrhoea and GBS infections are inversely associated with HM compounds like 2'-fucosyllactose (2´-FL) and immunoglobulins.
- Upper and lower respiratory tract infections, otitis media, and dental caries showed inverse associations with galectins and other HM compounds.
- HM bioactive compounds such as PUFAs, HMOs, and specific IgA antibodies may influence allergic and infectious outcomes in infants.
- Pooled analyses of omega-3 levels in HM fed to infants with atopic dermatitis showed reduced EPA and DGLA, but results are limited by high heterogeneity.
- The review highlights key knowledge gaps and suggests future research on understudied components like antimicrobial peptides using multi-omics and longitudinal approaches.