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The need to study human milk as a biological system

The American journal of clinical nutrition, 2021-05, Vol.113 (5), p.1063-1072 [Peer Reviewed Journal]

2021 American Society for Nutrition. ;The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society for Nutrition. ;Copyright American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc. May 2021 ;The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society for Nutrition. 2021 ;ISSN: 0002-9165 ;EISSN: 1938-3207 ;DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/nqab075 ;PMID: 33831952

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  • Title:
    The need to study human milk as a biological system
  • Author: Christian, Parul ; Smith, Emily R ; Lee, Sun Eun ; Vargas, Ashley J ; Bremer, Andrew A ; Raiten, Daniel J
  • Subjects: Adult ; bioactives ; Biological clocks ; Biological effects ; Biology ; Breast Feeding ; Breast milk ; breastfeeding ; Breastfeeding & lactation ; Composition ; Diet ; Editor's Choice ; Female ; human milk ; Human motion ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena ; Infants ; Lactation ; Lactation - physiology ; Maternal & child health ; Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena ; Microbiota ; Milk ; Milk, Human - chemistry ; Milk, Human - microbiology ; Milk, Human - physiology ; Mothers ; nutrients ; Research methods
  • Is Part Of: The American journal of clinical nutrition, 2021-05, Vol.113 (5), p.1063-1072
  • Description: Critical advancement is needed in the study of human milk as a biological system that intersects and interacts with myriad internal (maternal biology) and external (diet, environment, infections) factors and its plethora of influences on the developing infant. Human-milk composition and its resulting biological function is more than the sum of its parts. Our failure to fully understand this biology in a large part contributes to why the duration of exclusive breastfeeding remains an unsettled science (if not policy). Our current understanding of human-milk composition and its individual components and their functions fails to fully recognize the importance of the chronobiology and systems biology of human milk in the context of milk synthesis, optimal timing and duration of feeding, and period of lactation. The overly simplistic, but common, approach to analyzing single, mostly nutritive components of human milk is insufficient to understand the contribution of either individual components or the matrix within which they exist to both maternal and child health. There is a need for a shift in the conceptual approach to studying human milk to improve strategies and interventions to support better lactation, breastfeeding, and the full range of infant feeding practices, particularly for women and infants living in undernourished and infectious environments. Recent technological advances have led to a rising movement towards advancing the science of human-milk biology. Herein, we describe the rationale and critical need for unveiling the multifunctionality of the various nutritional, nonnutritional, immune, and biological signaling pathways of the components in human milk that drive system development and maturation, growth, and development in the very early postnatal period of life. We provide a vision and conceptual framework for a research strategy and agenda to change the field of human-milk biology with implications for global policy, innovation, and interventions. ▪
  • Publisher: United States: Elsevier Inc
  • Language: English
  • Identifier: ISSN: 0002-9165
    EISSN: 1938-3207
    DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/nqab075
    PMID: 33831952
  • Source: Geneva Foundation Free Medical Journals at publisher websites
    MEDLINE
    Alma/SFX Local Collection

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