The profile of human milk metabolome, cytokines and antibodies in inflammatory bowel diseases versus healthy mothers and potential impact on the newborn.

UNASSIGNED

For women with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), it is not very well known how IBD or IBD treatment impacts their breastmilk components. We aimed to investigate whether breastmilk composition differs in healthy control (HC) versus IBD mothers in terms of antibodies, cytokines and metabolites to identify potential impact of IBD breastmilk on neonatal immune system.

UNASSIGNED

Breastmilk specimens from HC (n=17) and IBD (n=31 for Crohn's disease (CD); n=41 for ulcerative colitis (UC)) were collected at 3 and 6 months post-partum (PP3) and (PP6), respectively. Fecal samples were also collected. Cytokines and immunoglobulins (IgA/IgG/IgE) were analyzed by multiplex Meso Scale Discovery (MSD) and commercial kits. Moreover, breastmilk metabolites were analyzed by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).

UNASSIGNED

We found breastmilk from IBD mothers showed significantly lower levels of IgA, sugar metabolite (lactose) and 2-aminobutyrate. In contrast, we observed breastmilk from mothers with IBD had increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and higher energy metabolites (lactate and succinate) than milk from healthy mothers. In addition, we noticed that the type of treatment (5-ASA versus Biologics) influenced the milk cytokines and metabolites profile.

UNASSIGNED

The reduction in immunoprotective components of IBD breastmilk such as sIgA and lactose theoretically may modulate the potential protective effects of breastfeeding. On the other hand, presence of higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, lactate and succinate may predispose the offspring to an inflammatory condition or impact the gut microbiome. Better understanding the role of succinate in infants and its potential effects on microbiome or mucosal immunity merits further investigations.