School of Food Science and Engineering, Overseas Expertise Introduction Center for Discipline Innovation of Food Nutrition and Human Health, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
H&H Group, H&H Research, Global Research and Technology Centre, P61 K202 Co, Cork, Ireland.
Mol Nutr Food Res. 2022 Oct;66(19):e2200098. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.202200098. Epub 2022 Aug 31.
Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), multifunctional glycans naturally present in human milk, are known to contribute to the infant's microbiota and immune system development. However, the molecular specificity of HMOs on microbiota and associated fermentation is not yet fully understood, and is important for the development of infant formula optimum functionality.
In vitro fermentation is carried out on structurally different HMOs with infant fecal inocula dominated by Bifidobacterium longum, Bifidobacterium breve, and Bacteroides. The gas, metabolite (SCFA, lactate, and succinate) profiles, and microbiota responses differ between individual microbiota inocula patterns regardless of HMO structure. In terms of HMO pairs with same sugar composition but different glycosidic bonds, gas and metabolite profiles are similar with the B. longum- and B. breve-dominated inocula. However, large individual variations are observed with the Bacteroides-dominated inocula. The microbial communities at the end of fermentation are closely related to the initial microbiota composition.
The findings demonstrate that short-term in vitro fermentation outcomes largely depend on the initial gut microbiota composition more than the impact of HMO molecular specificity. These results advance the current understanding for the design of personalized infant nutritional solutions and therapies in future.
人乳寡糖（HMOs）是天然存在于人乳中的多功能聚糖，已知其有助于婴儿的微生物群和免疫系统发育。然而，HMOs 对微生物群及其相关发酵的分子特异性尚未完全了解，这对于开发婴儿配方奶粉的最佳功能至关重要。
用婴儿粪便接种物以长双歧杆菌、短双歧杆菌和拟杆菌为主，对结构不同的 HMO 进行体外发酵。不同微生物群接种模式下，即使 HMO 结构相同，气体、代谢物（SCFA、乳酸和琥珀酸）谱和微生物群反应也不同。对于具有相同糖组成但糖苷键不同的 HMO 对，长双歧杆菌和短双歧杆菌为主的接种物的气体和代谢物谱相似。然而，以拟杆菌为主的接种物观察到个体差异较大。发酵结束时的微生物群落与初始微生物群落组成密切相关。
这些发现表明，短期体外发酵结果在很大程度上取决于初始肠道微生物群组成，而不是 HMO 分子特异性的影响。这些结果为未来设计个性化婴儿营养解决方案和治疗方法提供了新的思路。
