Milk Oligosaccharides Vary within Individuals and During Lactation

Specific human milk oligosaccharides inhibit specific microbial pathogens.1 As soluble homologs or analogs of host receptors for pathogens, milk oligosaccharides, especially fucosylated neutral oligosaccharides, may act as decoys to protect infants against disease.2-4 To study a relationship between specific human milk oligosaccharides and disease in breast-fed infants, it is necessary to know the levels of specific oligosaccharides present in milks of individuals during lactation. Variation in total oligosaccharides, specific α1,2-linked oligosaccharides, and activities of fucosidases and fucosyltransferases has been reported.5, 6This study measures variation in individual fucosylated oligosaccharides in milks of individual mothers over the course of lactation.