Saturday, May 19, 2012

Human Milk Oligosaccharides

Breast Milk can Adjusts Optimize for Beneficial Gut Bacteria Overtime human milk oligosaccharides (HMO) are a major component of human milk, present in higher concentration than protein, many of their actions in the infant are not well understood.

HMO as the fiber of human milk because don’t have the enzymes to break down these compounds. Bacteria found in the guts of formula-fed infant is different. Complex mixture of HMO and a single HMO component produce pattern of short chain fatty acids that change as the infant gets older.

 A healthy microbiome has both short and long term effects on an infant’s health. In the short term, beneficial bacteria protect the infant from infection by harmful bacteria. In the long term, beneficial bacteria strengthen the immune system so that it can fend off chronic health problems like food allergies and asthma.

Colon bacteria also containing HMO and two prebiotics commonly used in infant formulas. These mixture allow to ferment and look bacterial population was changing overtime and what products were being produced by the milk bacteria.