RT Journal Article
T1 Bacterial Diversity of Breast Milk in Healthy Spanish Women: Evolution from Birth to Five Years Postpartum
A1 Sanjulián Fernández, Laura
A1 Lamas Freire, Alexandre
A1 Barreiro Tomé, Rocío
A1 Cepeda Sáez, Alberto
A1 Fente Sampayo, Cristina Asunción
K1 Breast milk
K1 Microbiota
K1 Bacteria
K1 Fatty acids
K1 Minerals
K1 Spain
K1 qPCR
K1 16S rRNA
K1 NGS
AB The objective of this work was to characterize the microbiota of breast milk in healthy Spanish mothers and to investigate the effects of lactation time on its diversity. A total of ninety-nine human milk samples were collected from healthy Spanish women and were assessed by means of next-generation sequencing of 16S rRNA amplicons and by qPCR. Firmicutes was the most abundant phylum, followed by Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria. Accordingly, Streptococcus was the most abundant genus. Lactation time showed a strong influence in milk microbiota, positively correlating with Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes, while Firmicutes was relatively constant over lactation. 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing showed that the highest alpha-diversity was found in samples of prolonged lactation, along with wider differences between individuals. As for milk nutrients, calcium, magnesium, and selenium levels were potentially associated with Streptococcus and Staphylococcus abundance. Additionally, Proteobacteria was positively correlated with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) levels in breast milk, and Staphylococcus with conjugated linoleic acid. Conversely, Streptococcus and trans-palmitoleic acid showed a negative association. Other factors such as maternal body mass index or diet also showed an influence on the structure of these microbial communities. Overall, human milk in Spanish mothers appeared to be a complex niche shaped by host factors and by its own nutrients, increasing in diversity over time
PB MDPI
YR 2021
FD 2021
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/26657
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/26657
LA eng
NO Nutrients 2021, 13(7), 2414; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13072414
NO The authors would like to thank the European Regional Development Funds (FEDER), grant ED431C 2018/05, for covering the costs of publication
DS Minerva
RD 24 abr 2026