posted on 2024-01-24, 08:42authored byTuulia Hyötyläinen, Tannaz Ghaffarzadegan, Bagavathy Shanmugam Karthikeyan, Eric Triplett, Matej Orešič, Johnny Ludvigsson
The composition of human breast milk (HBM) exhibits significant
variability both between individuals and within the same individual.
While environmental factors are believed to play a role in this variation,
their influence on breast milk composition remains inadequately understood.
Herein, we investigate the impact of environmental factors on HBM
lipid composition in a general population cohort. The study included
mothers (All Babies In Southeast Sweden study) whose children later
progressed to one or more immune-mediated diseases later in life:
type 1 diabetes (n = 9), celiac disease (n = 24), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (n = 9), inflammatory bowel disease (n = 7), hypothyroidism
(n = 6), and matched controls (n = 173). Lipidome of HBM was characterized by liquid chromatography
combined with high-resolution mass spectrometry. We observed that
maternal age, body mass index, diet, and exposure to perfluorinated
alkyl substances (PFASs) had a marked impact on breast milk lipidome,
with larger changes observed in the milk of those mothers whose children
later developed autoimmune diseases. We also observed differences
in breast milk lipid composition in those mothers whose offspring
later developed autoimmune diseases. Our study suggests that breast
milk lipid composition is modified by a complex interaction between
genetic and environmental factors, and, importantly, this impact was
significantly more pronounced in those mothers whose offspring later
developed autoimmune/inflammatory diseases. Our findings also suggest
that merely assessing PFAS concentration may not capture the full
extent of the impact of chemical exposures; thus, the more comprehensive
exposome approach is essential for accurately assessing the impact
of PFAS exposure on HBM and, consequently, on the health outcomes
of the offspring.