Ronan Thibault, Gaëlle Boudry, Philippe Legrand, Clair-Yves Boquien, Guillaume Mairesse, Daniel Catheline, Nathalie Kerhoas, Mathieu Guillevic, Chloé Rousseau, Fabrice Laîné, Sophie Blat, Isabelle Le Huërou-Luron, Sophie Le Gall, Loric Thoulouze, Marie-Cécile Alexandre-Gouabau, Bruno Laviolle, Jean-Marc Goujon, Luiz Poffo, Ronan Le Page, Pierre Weill, Guillaume Chesneau, Bernard Schmitt
Improvement in alpha-linolenic acid dietary intake modifies nutritional and non-nutritional characteristics of breast milk, as well as the faecal microbiota of neonates. Whether this could lead to potential health benefits deserve further investigation.
BACKGROUND: Improving n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) dietary intake could modify the characteristics of breast milk. The "Bleu-Blanc-Coeur®" (BBC) food products display increased alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) content compared to standard food items.
OBJECTIVES: to evaluate whether improving ALA dietary intake by animal and vegetal BBC products during pregnancy and lactation increases ALA content of breast milk on day (d) 21 postpartum (PP) (primary aim), modifies the fatty acids (FAs), human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), hormone and immune composition of breast milk, as well as the intestinal microbiota of neonates (secondary aims).
METHODS: In a single-centre, interventional, randomized, open-label trial, adult women, ≤ 28 weeks of amenorrhea, substituted (BBC group) or not (control group, CTRL) their usual food with BBC animal and vegetal products containing ALA from month 7 of pregnancy until d45-PP. Food intake, breast milk FAs, lipidome, insulin, leptin, adiponectin, interleukin (IL)-6, lactoferrin, immunoglobulin (Ig) A and G, HMOs, and the faecal microbiota composition of neonates, were analysed.
RESULTS: Of the 66 included and randomized women, 58 were analysed. In breast milk, ALA and n-3 PUFA levels were respectively 75% and 52% higher at d21-PP, and 38% and 22% higher at d45-PP, in the BBC (n=28) than in the CTRL (n=30) groups. At d21-PP, the breast milk lipidome, insulin, IL-6, IgG (P<0.05), and HMO levels (P<0.01) differed. The alpha-diversity of the faecal microbiota of neonates at d21-PP was greater (P<0.05) in the BBC than in the CTRL groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Improvement in alpha-linolenic acid dietary intake modifies nutritional and non-nutritional characteristics of breast milk, as well as the faecal microbiota of neonates. Whether this could lead to potential health benefits deserve further investigation.
CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRY NUMBER: NCT03805997 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03805997).