惭耻尘鈥檚 breast may be best, but cow鈥檚 milk could provide a cheap and ready source of key prebiotics for a healthy baby gut microbiome. The compounds could be incorporated into infant formula.
A mother鈥檚 breast milk is a wonder drink for a newborn. We know it contains a whole host of beneficial components, including antibodies that protect a baby from disease, and the fats, proteins and vitamins essential for a baby鈥檚 development.
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It also contains oligosaccharides 鈥� carbohydrates recently found to behave like prebiotics, and that encourage the growth of a baby鈥檚 gut bacteria.
It鈥檚 important to get gut bacterial growth right. A baby鈥檚 first collection of bacteria is thought to affect which other microbial species are able to make a home in their gut. Allowing the wrong bugs to dominate can put a person at risk of developing all sorts of disorders, including obesity and even Parkinson鈥檚 disease.
A baby鈥檚 gut microbiome is far simpler than that of a healthy adult. It鈥檚 usually dominated by a single species 鈥� Bifidobacteria longum infantis, or B. infantis for short. 鈥淯p to 90 per cent of a baby鈥檚 gut bacteria can be B. infantis,鈥� says at the University of California at Davis.
Bug takeover
If B. infantis doesn鈥檛 dominate potentially harmful bacteria can move in and take over. 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 have infant-associated bifidobacteria, a type called bacteroides can become dominant, and encourage the growth of E. coli,鈥� says Mills.
Now Mills鈥檚 team has found that a component of cow鈥檚 milk can encourage B. infantis to thrive. They used an enzyme to separate the oligosaccharides and proteins out of cow鈥檚 milk, and tried growing the bacteria on each of the two components. B. infantis failed to grow on the proteins extracted from cow鈥檚 milk. But the oligosaccharides had striking effects, encouraging the bacteria to grow dramatically.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a bit of a surprise, because human milk is so different to cow鈥檚 milk,鈥� says Mills.
Because of those differences cow鈥檚 milk is thought to provide few benefits for babies. But, in terms of the oligosaccharides at least, the two types of milk are actually similar, says Mills. This means that cow鈥檚 milk 鈥� and potentially the milk of other animals 鈥� could provide a ready source of these prebiotics for use in infant formula.
at the University of Aberdeen, UK, agrees. 鈥淚t looks like if you pre-treat cow鈥檚 milk with an enzyme, you could have a low-cost source of useful oligosaccharides, which are difficult to manufacture,鈥� she says.
One source could be whey permeate 鈥� a by-product of cheese-making. At the moment, this tends to be thrown away, but it could contain plenty of useful oligosaccharides, says Mills.
Mills鈥檚 wider goal is to figure out exactly what makes for an ideal microbiome in babies. 鈥淭he more we know about what B. infantis looks like, the better we can diagnose a healthy gut in a healthy child,鈥� he says.
Journal reference: Applied and Environmental Microbiology DOI:
