Lara-Diaz, V. J. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2025

Analysis of human colostrum reveals differential co-occurrence networks of metabolites, microbiota, and cytokines in maternal obesity

Breastmilk is essential for neonatal development, particularly in seeding the gut microbiota and modulating the maturing immune system. This proof-of-concept study explores the systemic nature of colostrum and the influence of maternal obesity on co-occurrences of colostrum bioactives. Using 16S-rRNA sequencing, untargeted metabolomics, and cytokines quantification, we analyzed co-occurring elements in the colostrum of mothers with normal weight (18.5 < BMI < 25) or obesity (BMI > 30). We identified 5 different co-occurrence networks, characterized by positive correlations of taxonomically related bacteria. Our integrative analysis reveals that Aeromonadaceae, Xanthomonadaceae and Staphylococcaceae negatively correlate with proinflammatory cytokines TNF-, IL-6, and IL-12p70 in the colostrum of mothers with obesity (WO). Additionally, lipid mediators, including 15-HEDE and LysoPC(16:00), were associated with cytokines IL-10 and IL-8, and microbiota taxa Burkholderiaceae, Beijerinckiaceae and Planococcaceae-firstly reported in colostrum from mothers WO. Our findings suggest a pervasive regulation of bioactives in the colostrum of mothers WO. This may have implications for a distinctive neonatal intestine development.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2021

Insights into the trafficking of human leukocytes to colostrum evidences a modulation of the B lymphocyte compartment in obesity

Breastmilk is a dynamic fluid which initial goal is to provide the most adapted nutrition to the neonate. Additional functions have been recently attributed to breastmilk, with the evidence of a specific microbiota and the presence of a variety of components of the immune system, such as cytokines and leukocytes. The composition of breastmilk varies through time, according to the health status of mother and child, and altogether contributes to future health of the infant. Obesity is a rising condition worldwide, that creates a state of systemic, chronic inflammation including leukocytosis. Here, we asked whether colostrum, the milk produced within the first 48 h post-partum, would contain a distinct leukocyte composition depending on the body mass index (BMI) of the mother. We applied a panel of 6 antibodies plus viability marker to the peripheral blood and colostrum obtained from obese (BMI > 30) and lean (BMI < 25) mothers to characterize 10 major leukocyte subpopulations using flow cytometry. While lymphoid cells were otherwise unaffected by their tissue of origin, the phenotypes of granulocyte and monocyte populations significantly contrasted between blood and colostrum, including variations in morphology and surface expression of CD45 and CD16. These differences recapitulated across groups, which suggests a generalized cell-specific phenotype alteration caused by trafficking to colostrum. The B lymphocyte compartment was significantly reduced in obese colostrum and these cells did not exhibit enhanced CD16 shedding in this tissue, unlike B lymphocytes from lean mothers colostrum. This is the first exhaustive characterization of major leukocyte subsets in obese mothers colostrum, and the first report of leukocyte subpopulations from Latin-American womens colostrum. This pioneering study is a steppingstone to further investigate active immunity in human breastmilk.

immunology↗