Premium
Human Milk Oligosaccharides Are Differentially Metabolized In Neonatal Rats
Author(s) -
Jantscher-Krenn Evelyn,
Marx Carolin,
Bode Lars
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.625.4
Subject(s) - bioavailability , urine , feces , metabolism , infant formula , physiology , small intestine , composition (language) , biology , endocrinology , medicine , food science , pharmacology , microbiology and biotechnology , linguistics , philosophy
Newborn infants ingest high amounts of Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMO) with their mother's milk, but the exact metabolic fate and bioavailability remain unknown. Here, we investigated the metabolism of orally administered HMO in 3d old neonatal rats. Pups were gavaged with formula with or without HMO (15mg/mL). Blood, urine and intestines were collected at different times post feeding. Intestines were divided into 5 sections of equal length. HMO in the different tissues were analyzed by HPLC‐FL, MS and TLC. Serum and urine contained mostly 3′SL (one of the few oligosaccharides in rat milk) but no other HMO, suggesting low absorption of non‐rat oligosaccharides. HMO composition in the intestine changed significantly over time and between different sections. Most strikingly, the percentage of lacto‐N‐fucopentaose 1 increased from 17% of total HMO ingested to 40% and 60% of HMO recovered from jejunal sections after 4 and 8hrs, respectively. Generally, higher‐mass HMO were enriched over smaller HMO like 2′‐fucosyllactose or lacto‐N‐tetraose. This indicates that structure‐specific HMO degradation already occurs in the neonatal rat's small intestine. Based on these results, our previous notion that HMO reach the colon in the same composition as in human milk may need to be reconsidered, at least for studies in some animal models. How these results translate to human infants needs further investigation.