Greenwood Melissa, Murciano-Martínez Patricia, Berrington Janet, Flitsch Sabine L, Austin Sean, Stewart Christopher
Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 4HH United Kingdom.
Analytical Sciences Department, Société des Produits Nestlé, Nestlé Research, Vers-Chez-Les-Blanc Lausanne Switzerland.
Microb Cell. 2024 Jul 4;11:221-234. doi: 10.15698/mic2024.07.827. eCollection 2024.
Human breastmilk is composed of many well researched bioactive components crucial for infant nutrition and priming of the neonatal microbiome and immune system. Understanding these components gives us crucial insight to the health and wellbeing of infants. Research surrounding glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) previously focused on those produced endogenously; however, recent efforts have shifted to understanding GAGs in human breastmilk. The structural complexity of GAGs makes detection and analysis complicated therefore, research is time consuming and limited to highly specialised teams experienced in carbohydrate analysis. In breastmilk, GAGs are present in varying quantities in four forms; chondroitin sulphate, heparin/heparan sulphate, dermatan sulphate and hyaluronic acid, and are hypothesised to behave similar to other bioactive components with suspected roles in pathogen defense and proliferation of beneficial gut bacteria. Chondroitin sulphate and heparin, being the most abundant, are expected to have the most impact on infant health. Their decreasing concentration over lactation further indicates their role and potential importance during early life.
人乳由许多经过充分研究的生物活性成分组成，这些成分对婴儿营养以及新生儿微生物群和免疫系统的启动至关重要。了解这些成分能让我们深入洞察婴儿的健康状况。此前，关于糖胺聚糖（GAGs）的研究主要集中在内源性产生的糖胺聚糖；然而，最近的研究重点已转向了解人乳中的糖胺聚糖。糖胺聚糖的结构复杂性使得检测和分析变得复杂，因此，研究耗时且仅限于在碳水化合物分析方面经验丰富的高度专业化团队。在母乳中，糖胺聚糖以四种形式存在，含量各不相同；硫酸软骨素、肝素/硫酸乙酰肝素、硫酸皮肤素和透明质酸，据推测其作用类似于其他生物活性成分，在病原体防御和有益肠道细菌增殖方面可能发挥作用。硫酸软骨素和肝素含量最为丰富，预计对婴儿健康影响最大。它们在哺乳期的浓度下降进一步表明了它们在生命早期的作用和潜在重要性。
