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Metabolic fate of milk glycosaminoglycans in breastfed and formula fed newborns

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Abstract

In this study, the content, structure and residual percentages of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in the feces of seven breastfed newborns after ingesting a known amount of milk were studied. A comparison was made with five newborns fed with formula milk. Characterization of GAGs from milk and feces samples was performed according to previous methodology. Compared to the ingested GAGs present in milk, residual feces GAGs of breastfed newborns were <0.4 %, contrary to formula milk fed children, where the residues were ~4 %. As a consequence, >99 % of human milk GAGs are utilized as opposed to ~96 % of formula milk. Hyaluronic acid utilization was found to be fairly similar contrary to chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate and heparan sulfate, which were found to be ~10–18 times lower in formula milk fed children. Our new results further demonstrate that the elevated content of human milk GAGs passes undigested through the entire digestive system of newborns, possibly protecting the infant from infections. In the distal gastrointestinal tract, these complex macromolecules are catabolized by a cohort of bacterial enzymes and constituent monosaccharides/oligosaccharides utilized for further metabolic purposes potentially useful for bacteria metabolism or internalized by intestinal cells. Thanks to their elevated structural heterogeneity, milk GAGs are used differently depending on their distinct primary structure. Finally, a different utilization and availability was observed for human milk GAGs compared to formula milk due to their various composition and structural heterogeneity.

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Contributors

N.V. developed the applied methodologies. F.M., V.M., L.Z., T.G. and F.G. performed the experimental procedures and analyses. A.C. collected the feces samples. N.V., G.V.C. and O.G. designed and developed the experimental design, performed data analysis and wrote the manuscript.

All authors reviewed and approved the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena & Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 213/D, 41125, Modena, Italy

    Francesca Maccari, Veronica Mantovani, Fabio Galeotti & Nicola Volpi

  2. Department of Clinical Sciences, Polytechnic University of the Marche, Ospedali Riuniti, Presidio Salesi, Ancona, Italy

    Orazio Gabrielli, Lucia Zampini, Tiziana Galeazzi & Giovanni V. Coppa

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Ascoli Piceno Hospital, Ascoli Piceno, Italy

    Antonio Carlucci

Authors
  1. Francesca Maccari
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  2. Veronica Mantovani
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  3. Orazio Gabrielli
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  4. Antonio Carlucci
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  5. Lucia Zampini
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  6. Tiziana Galeazzi
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  7. Fabio Galeotti
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  8. Giovanni V. Coppa
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  9. Nicola Volpi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicola Volpi.

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Maccari, F., Mantovani, V., Gabrielli, O. et al. Metabolic fate of milk glycosaminoglycans in breastfed and formula fed newborns. Glycoconj J 33, 181–188 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10719-016-9655-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10719-016-9655-5

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