Human milk oligosaccharide

[1] The HMO profile of human breast milk shapes the gut microbiota of the infant by selectively stimulating bifidobacteria and other bacteria.

[2] In contrast to the other components of breast milk that are absorbed by the infant through breastfeeding, HMOs are indigestible for the nursing child.

Recent studies suggest that HMOs significantly lower the risk of viral and bacterial infections and thus diminish the chance of diarrhoea and respiratory diseases.

[1][6] It is also suspected that HMOs reduce the risk of premature infants becoming infected with the potentially life-threatening disease necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).

[1] Some of the metabolites directly affect the nervous system or the brain and can sometimes influence the development and behavior of children in the long term.

The dominant oligosaccharide in 80% of all women is 2′-fucosyllactose, which is present in human breast milk at a concentration of approximately 2.5 g/L;[4] other abundant oligosacchadies include lacto-N-tetraose, lacto-N-neotetraose, and lacto-N-fucopentaose.

[10] All HMOs derive from lactose, which can be decorated by four monosaccharides (N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, D-galactose, sialic acid and/or L-fucose) to form an oligosaccharide.

[17] Human milk oligosaccharides can be synthesized in large quantities using precision industrial fermentation methods e.g. by the commonly used, non-pathogenic bacteria Escherichia coli.