ArticleGut2018
Human milk oligosaccharide composition predicts risk of necrotising enterocolitis in preterm infants.
Article in Gut, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 136 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
136 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 255 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Clinical Studies on the Supplementation of Manufactured Human Milk Oligosaccharides: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2023Pooled it
- Prebiotics to prevent necrotising enterocolitis in very preterm or very low birth weight infants.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Synbiotics to prevent necrotising enterocolitis in very preterm or very low birth weight infants.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Erythropoietin prevents necrotizing enterocolitis in very preterm infants: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of translational medicine · 2020Trial
- Human milk oligosaccharides and their association with late-onset neonatal sepsis in Peruvian very-low-birth-weight infants.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2020Trial
- Decoding the HMO‒microbiome axis: bridging maternal milk to infant health outcomes.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- From homeostasis to dysregulation: human milk, microbial metabolites, and the preterm intestinal microenvironment in necrotizing enterocolitis.Translational pediatrics · 2026Review
- Immunoglobulin A concentration is lower in mothers' own milk and infant stool in infants who develop necrotising enterocolitis.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Varied human milk oligosaccharides in human milk from mothers treated with antidepressants and anti-inflammatories.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Shaping of the Infant Gut Microbiome by Milk Oligosaccharides.Annual review of biochemistry · 2026Review
- The role of human milk oligosaccharides in shaping and restoring infant gut microbiota: population-based cohort study.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2026Article
- Synthesis of sialylated human milk oligosaccharides by automated glycan assembly.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Clostridia from preterm infants metabolize human milk oligosaccharides to suppress pathobionts and modulate intestinal function in organoids.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- CD177⁺ neutrophil-platelet aggregates contribute to thromboinflammation via NETs in necrotizing enterocolitis.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Evaluating the Effect of Random Multi-Donor Pooling on the Nutritional Variability in Donor Human Milk Using Computer Modeling.Maternal & child nutrition · 2026Article
- Mechanisms by which tryptophan metabolites enhance intestinal barrier function to prevent necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Sialidases and sialylated oligosaccharides in intestinal homeostasis and inflammation.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- A cross-sectional study of macronutrients, vitamins, minerals, and bioactive components in human milk of approved milk bank donors from low-, middle-, and high-income countries.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2025Article
- Expression of functional human sialyltransferases ST6GalNAc5 and ST6GalNAc6 in Pichia pastoris.Applied microbiology and biotechnology · 2025Article
76 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveNecrotising enterocolitis (NEC) is one of the most common and often fatal intestinal disorders in preterm infants. Markers to identify at-risk infants as well as therapies to prevent and treat NEC are limited and urgently needed. NEC incidence is significantly lower in breast-fed compared with formula-fed infants. Infant formula lacks human milk oligosaccharides (HMO), such as disialyllacto-N-tetraose (DSLNT), which prevents NEC in neonatal rats. However, it is unknown if DSLNT also protects human preterm infants.
designWe conducted a multicentre clinical cohort study and recruited 200 mothers and their very low birthweight infants that were predominantly human milk-fed. We analysed HMO composition in breast milk fed to infants over the first 28 days post partum, matched each NEC case with five controls and used logistic regression and generalised estimating equation to test the hypothesis that infants who develop NEC receive milk with less DSLNT than infants who do not develop NEC.
resultsEight infants in the cohort developed NEC (Bell stage 2 or 3). DSLNT concentrations were significantly lower in almost all milk samples in NEC cases compared with controls, and its abundance could identify NEC cases prior to onset. Aggregate assessment of DSLNT over multiple days enhanced the separation of NEC cases and control subjects.
conclusionsDSLNT content in breast milk is a potential non-invasive marker to identify infants at risk of developing NEC, and screen high-risk donor milk. In addition, DSLNT could serve as a natural template to develop novel therapeutics against this devastating disorder.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.