Micronutrient supplementation of lactating Guatemalan women acutely increases infants' intake of riboflavin, thiamin, pyridoxal, and cobalamin, but not niacin, in a randomized crossover trial.

backgroundMaternal supplementation during lactation could increase milk B-vitamin concentrations, but little is known about the kinetics of milk vitamin responses.

objectivesWe compared acute effects of maternal lipid-based nutrient supplement (LNS) consumption (n = 22 nutrients, 175%-212% of the RDA intake for the nutrients examined), as a single dose or at spaced intervals during 8 h, on milk concentrations and infant intake from milk of B-vitamins.

methodsThis randomized crossover trial in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala included 26 mother-infant dyads 4-6 mo postpartum who were randomly assigned to receive 3 treatments in a random order: bolus 30-g dose of LNS (Bolus); 3 × 10-g doses of LNS (Divided); and no LNS (Control), with control meals. Mothers attended three 8-h visits during which infant milk consumption was measured and milk samples were collected at every feed. Infant intake was assessed as $\mathop \sum \nolimits_{i\ = \ 1}^n ( {{\rm{milk\ volum}}{{\rm{e}}_{{\rm{feed\ }}n}} \times \ {\rm{nutrient\ concentratio}}{{\rm{n}}_{{\rm{feed}}\ n}}} )$ over 8 h.

resultsMaternal supplementation with the Bolus or Divided dose increased least-squares mean (95% CI) milk and infant intakes of riboflavin [milk: Bolus: 154.4 (138.2, 172.5) μg · min-1 · mL-1; Control: 84.5 (75.8, 94.3) μg · min-1 · mL-1; infant: Bolus: 64.5 (56.1, 74.3) μg; Control: 34.5 (30.0, 39.6) μg], thiamin [milk: Bolus: 10.9 (10.1, 11.7) μg · min-1 · mL-1; Control: 7.7 (7.2, 8.3) μg · min-1 · mL-1; infant: Bolus: 5.1 (4.4, 6.0) μg; Control: 3.4 (2.9, 4.0) μg], and pyridoxal [milk: Bolus: 90.5 (82.8, 98.9) μg · min-1 · mL-1; Control: 60.8 (55.8, 66.3) μg · min-1 · mL-1; infant: Bolus: 39.4 (33.5, 46.4) μg; Control: 25.0 (21.4, 29.2) μg] (all P < 0.001). Only the Bolus dose increased cobalamin in milk [Bolus: 0.054 (0.047, 0.061) μg · min-1 · mL-1; Control: 0.041 (0.035, 0.048) μg · min-1 · mL-1, P = 0.039] and infant cobalamin intake [Bolus: 0.023 (0.020, 0.027) μg; Control: 0.015 (0.013, 0.018) μg, P = 0.001] compared with Control. Niacin was unaffected.

conclusionsMaternal supplementation with LNS as a Bolus or Divided dose was similarly effective at increasing milk riboflavin, thiamin, and pyridoxal and infant intakes, whereas only the Bolus dose increased cobalamin. Niacin was unaffected in 8 h. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02464111.