Muse Meghan E, Wang Yuting, Gilbert-Diamond Diane, Armstrong David A, Hoen Anne G, Romano Megan E, Gui Jiang, Palys Thomas J, Kolling Frederick W, Christensen Brock C, Karagas Margaret R, Howe Caitlin G
Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, 1 Medical Center Dr, Lebanon, NH, USA.
Research Service, V.A. Medical Center, White River Junction, VT, USA.
Epigenet Rep. 2025;3(1):1-10. doi: 10.1080/28361512.2025.2508883. Epub 2025 May 30.
Extracellular vesicle and particle microRNAs (EVP miRNA) in milk have the capacity to facilitate maternal-infant communication in the postpartum period and are hypothesized to play important roles in child development. Maternal diet quality has been linked to milk macronutrient composition, microbiota profiles, as well as various child health outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess the association between maternal diet quality and milk EVP miRNA. In a pilot study of 54 participants from a larger birth cohort study, diet quality was measure by the Alternative Healthy Eating Index 2010 (AHEI-2010) during the second trimester of pregnancy and 798 EVP miRNA were profiled in mature milk samples (collected approximately six weeks postpartum) using the NanoString nCounter platform. In covariate-adjusted models, AHEI-2010 was positively associated ( < 0.05) with levels of miR-1283, miR-520h, and mir-570-3p in milk EVPs. Predicted target genes of these diet-associated miRNA are enriched in pathways related to lactation and mammary development (PI3 kinase signaling and Wnt signaling pathways) and milk protein and fat synthesis (PI3 kinase signaling). Further research is needed to investigate whether these diet-associated miRNA influence lactation, human milk quality, and child growth and development.
母乳中的细胞外囊泡和颗粒微小RNA（EVP miRNA）能够促进产后母婴交流，并被认为在儿童发育中发挥重要作用。母亲的饮食质量与母乳中的宏量营养素组成、微生物群谱以及各种儿童健康结果有关。本研究的目的是评估母亲饮食质量与母乳EVP miRNA之间的关联。在一项来自更大规模出生队列研究的54名参与者的试点研究中，在妊娠中期通过2010年替代健康饮食指数（AHEI - 2010）来衡量饮食质量，并使用NanoString nCounter平台对成熟母乳样本（产后约六周收集）中的798种EVP miRNA进行了分析。在协变量调整模型中，AHEI - 2010与母乳EVP中miR - 1283、miR - 520h和mir - 570 - 3p的水平呈正相关（<0.05）。这些与饮食相关的miRNA的预测靶基因在与泌乳和乳腺发育相关的途径（PI3激酶信号通路和Wnt信号通路）以及乳蛋白和脂肪合成（PI3激酶信号通路）中富集。需要进一步研究来调查这些与饮食相关的miRNA是否会影响泌乳、母乳质量以及儿童的生长发育。
