ArticleThe American journal of clinical nutrition2021
Associations of human milk oligosaccharides and bioactive proteins with infant growth and development among Malawian mother-infant dyads.
Article in The American journal of clinical nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01239693 (A Research Plan for a Randomised, Single-blind, Parallel Group Controlled Trial in Rural Malawi, Testing the Health Effects of Supplementing Maternal Diet During Pregnancy and Lactation and Infant Diet From 6 to 18 Months of Age With High-energy, Micronutrient Fortified Lipid-based Nutrient Supplements), which is not on this map. Cited by 37 papers, 2 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.
A Research Plan for a Randomised, Single-blind, Parallel Group Controlled Trial in Rural Malawi, Testing the Health Effects of Supplementing Maternal Diet During Pregnancy and Lactation and Infant Diet From 6 to 18 Months of Age With High-energy, Micronutrient Fortified Lipid-based Nutrient Supplements (LNS)
Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 67 citations in OpenAlex.
- Community-Based Child Food Interventions/Supplements for the Prevention of Wasting in Children Up to 5 Years at Risk of Wasting and Nutritional Oedema: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nutrition reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Human Milk Bioactive Components and Child Growth and Body Composition in the First 2 Years: A Systematic Review.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of maternal allergy and supplementation with ω-3 fatty acid and probiotic on human milk oligosaccharides.Pediatric allergy and immunology : official publication of the European Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Glycosylation in gut-brain communication: from the intestinal barrier and microbiota to immune and neural signaling.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Human milk microbiome as a modulator of the early-life gut-brain axis: mechanisms and translational opportunities for neurodevelopment.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Review
- Associations of human milk lactoferrin with measures of physical growth in very preterm infants.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026Article
- Beyond breastfeeding: a One Health Decalogue for nurturing the infant microbiota.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- Article
- Examining associations between human milk fatty acids, oligosaccharides, and early infant cognitive, language and motor development in the CHILD cohort study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Recent advances in the science of human milk oligosaccharides.BBA advances · 2025Article
- Unaltered 3'-sialyllactose and 6'-sialyllactose concentrations in human milk acutely after endurance exercise: a randomized crossover trial.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Human Milk Oligosaccharides: Decoding Their Structural Variability, Health Benefits, and the Evolution of Infant Nutrition.Nutrients · 2024Review
- Absolute quantification of eight human milk oligosaccharides in breast milk to evaluate their concentration profiles and associations with infants' neurodevelopmental outcomes.Journal of food science · 2024Article
- Review
- Consumption of different combinations of human milk oligosaccharides in the first 6 mo of infancy is positively associated with early cognition at 2 y of age in a longitudinal cohort of Latino children.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2024Article
- Review
- Human milk oligosaccharides and infant growth: a global health approach.Pediatric research · 2024Article
- Associations between human milk oligosaccharides and infant growth in a Bangladeshi mother-infant cohort.Pediatric research · 2024Article
- Biological effects of combinations of structurally diverse human milk oligosaccharides.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
16 authors at 3 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHuman milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) and bioactive breast milk proteins have many beneficial properties. Information is sparse regarding associations between these milk constituents and infant growth and development in lower-income countries.
objectivesWe aimed to examine associations of milk content of HMOs and bioactive proteins at 6 mo postpartum with infant growth and motor and cognitive development. These are secondary analyses of a randomized controlled trial in rural Malawi.
methodsBreast milk samples were analyzed at 6 mo (n = 659) for general categories of HMOs (total HMOs, fucosylated HMOs, and sialylated HMOs), 51 individual HMOs, and 6 bioactive proteins (lactalbumin, lactoferrin, lysozyme, antitrypsin, IgA, and osteopontin). We examined associations of the relative abundances of HMOs and concentrations of bioactive proteins with infant growth from 6 to 12 mo [change in length-for-age (ΔLAZ), weight-for-age, weight-for-length, and head circumference z-scores] as well as ability to stand or walk alone at 12 mo, and motor and language skills, socioemotional development, executive function, and working memory at 18 mo. Analyses were adjusted for covariates and multiple hypothesis testing.
resultsAmong all participants, there were inverse associations of IgA and lactoferrin concentrations with motor skills (P = 0.018 and P = 0.044), and a positive association of lactalbumin concentration with motor skills (P = 0.038). Among secretors only [fucosyltransferase 2 gene (FUT2) positive], there were positive associations of absolute abundance of HMOs with ΔLAZ (P = 0.035), and relative abundance of fucosylated and sialylated HMOs with language at 18 mo (P < 0.001 and P = 0.033, respectively), and inverse associations of osteopontin with standing and walking at 12 mo (P = 0.007 and 0.002, respectively). Relative abundances of several individual HMOs were associated with growth and development, mostly among secretors.
conclusionsCertain bioactive breast milk proteins and HMOs are associated with infant growth and motor and cognitive development. Further studies are needed to determine if a causal relation exists.This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01239693.
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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.