Christensen Sophie Hilario, Lewis Jack Ivor, Frøkiær Hanne, Johnsen Peter Riber, Peerson Janet M, Tan Xiuping, Shahab-Ferdows Setareh, Hampel Daniela, Islam Munirul, Kac Gilberto, Mucci Daniela de Barros, Figueiredo Amanda C Cunha, Moore Sophie E, Mølgaard Christian, Allen Lindsay H, Michaelsen Kim F
Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Center for Clinical Research and Prevention, Copenhagen University Hospital-Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
PLoS One. 2025 May 8;20(5):e0323204. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0323204. eCollection 2025.
In resource-poor settings, mother-infant dyads are commonly exposed to environmental factors increasing the risk of infectious diseases and possibly influencing the cytokine profile of human milk (HM). Hormones in HM have been proposed to influence appetite-regulation and possibly growth in exclusively breastfed infants.
To compare cytokines and appetite-regulating hormone (ARH) concentrations in HM of mothers from four contrasting populations and investigate associations with infant growth.
HM samples from 825 mothers participating in the Mothers, Infants and Lactation Quality Study from Bangladesh (BD), Brazil (BR), Denmark (DK) and The Gambia (GM) were collected between 1-3.5 months postpartum and analysed for tumour-necrosis factor-α, interferon (IFN)-γ, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-33, and insulin, leptin and adiponectin. Infant growth was measured twice between 1-5.99 months postpartum. Analysis of covariance was used to compare geometric means of HM markers between the four sites and associations between HM markers and infant growth were investigated using linear regression analysis.
Differences in geometric means of all HM cytokines and ARHs were found among the four study sites after adjustment for possible explanatory variables. Lowest levels of most HM cytokines were found in BD, whereas highest levels of IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-10 and IL-33 were found in DK. In GM, cytokines and ARHs were inversely associated with weight-for-age and weight-for-length Z-scores.
We showed significant differences in HM composition of cytokines and ARHs among the four countries. Highest levels of T helper cell type 2 cytokines, which is typically related to increased risk of atopic diseases, were found in DK. The results may reflect the influence of different environmental exposures in the four sites on HM composition, which may be associated with infant growth in GM.
在资源匮乏地区，母婴二元组通常会接触到增加传染病风险并可能影响母乳（HM）细胞因子谱的环境因素。母乳中的激素被认为会影响食欲调节，并可能影响纯母乳喂养婴儿的生长。
比较来自四个不同人群的母亲母乳中细胞因子和食欲调节激素（ARH）的浓度，并研究其与婴儿生长的关联。
收集了来自孟加拉国（BD）、巴西（BR）、丹麦（DK）和冈比亚（GM）的825名参与母婴与泌乳质量研究的母亲的母乳样本，样本采集时间为产后1至3.5个月，并对肿瘤坏死因子-α、干扰素（IFN）-γ、白细胞介素（IL）-1β、IL-4、IL-6、IL-8、IL-10、IL-33以及胰岛素、瘦素和脂联素进行分析。在产后1至5.99个月期间对婴儿生长情况进行了两次测量。采用协方差分析比较四个研究地点母乳标志物的几何均值，并使用线性回归分析研究母乳标志物与婴儿生长之间的关联。
在对可能的解释变量进行调整后，四个研究地点的所有母乳细胞因子和ARH的几何均值存在差异。BD的大多数母乳细胞因子水平最低，而DK的IFN-γ、IL-4、IL-10和IL-33水平最高。在GM，细胞因子和ARH与年龄别体重和身长别体重Z评分呈负相关。
我们发现四个国家母乳中细胞因子和ARH的组成存在显著差异。在DK发现了最高水平的2型辅助性T细胞细胞因子，这通常与特应性疾病风险增加有关。结果可能反映了四个地点不同的环境暴露对母乳组成的影响，这可能与GM的婴儿生长有关。
