[3] It is a reducing sugar with a free anomeric center at the terminal glucose molecule indicating an equilibrium between the alpha (α) and beta (β) anomers.

[7] Only a small fraction of HMOs are absorbed undigested through the epithelium and are detectable in circulation, which may indicate other systemic functions of these compounds currently unknown.

[11] This is accomplished through specific transporter proteins and glycosidases to cleave chemical bonds found in lacto-N-tetraose, lacto-N-neotetraose, and other human milk oligosaccharides.

[12] Bifidobacterium in the human intestine have been found to contain type I chain lacto-N-biosidases capable of cleaving lacto-N-tetraose to lactose-N-biose and lactose.

[11] When the infant consumes human milk, lacto-N-tetraose confers a growth advantage to Bifidobacterium as they are able to metabolize this sugar for ATP production whereas other gut bacteria cannot.

[11] Strains of B. infantis highly adapted to utilizing human milk oligosaccharides further suggests a selective co-evolution between the gut microbiome and infant.

Human milk is inaccessible in large amounts and its complex makeup makes separation of the individual molecular components a challenge.

[4][13] The increasing availability of this compound is an area of ongoing research to further uncover the physiological and biochemical role of lacto-N-tetraose and other human milk oligosaccharides in the body.