ArticlePloS one2023
Breastfeeding patterns are associated with human milk microbiome composition: The Mother-Infant Microbiomes, Behavior, and Ecology Study (MIMBES).
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Breastfeeding infants with CHD: an evidence summary and recommendations from the Cardiac Newborn Neuroprotective Network, a special interest group of the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative.Cardiology in the young · 2025Guideline
- Infant gut microbiota and SCFAs mediate the association between early-life human milk microbiota and neurodevelopment.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025Article
- A Comparative Analysis of Feeding Practices and Oral Immunity in Infants.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
- The human milk microbiome is minimally associated with breastfeeding practices.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Postpartum Maternal Stress is Unrelated to the Infant Fecal Microbiome, but is Associated With the Human Milk Microbiome in Exclusively Breastfeeding Mother-Infant Dyads: The Mother-Infant Microbiomes, Behavior, and Ecology Study (MIMBES).American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025Article
- Integrating the milk microbiome signatures in mastitis: milk-omics and functional implications.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2025Review
- Breastfeeding patterns and total volume of human milk consumed influence the development of the infant oral microbiome.Journal of oral microbiology · 2025Article
- Residents or Tourists: Is the Lactating Mammary Gland Colonized by Residential Microbiota?Microorganisms · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The human milk microbiome (HMM) is hypothesized to be seeded by multiple factors, including the infant oral microbiome during breastfeeding. However, it is not known whether breastfeeding patterns (e.g., frequency or total time) impact the composition of the HMM. As part of the Mother-Infant Microbiomes, Behavior, and Ecology Study (MIMBES), we analyzed data from naturalistic observations of 46 mother-infant dyads living in the US Pacific Northwest and analyzed milk produced by the mothers for its bacterial diversity and composition. DNA was extracted from milk and the V1-V3 region of the 16S rRNA gene was amplified and sequenced. We hypothesized that number of breastfeeding bouts (breastfeeding sessions separated by >30 seconds) and total time breastfeeding would be associated with HMM α-diversity (richness, diversity, or evenness) and differential abundance of HMM bacterial genera. Multiple linear regression was used to examine associations between HMM α-diversity and the number of breastfeeding bouts or total time breastfeeding and selected covariates (infant age, maternal work outside the home, frequency of allomother physical contact with the infant, non-household caregiving network). HMM richness was inversely associated with number of breastfeeding bouts and frequency of allomother physical contact, but not total time breastfeeding. Infants' non-household caregiving network was positively associated with HMM evenness. In two ANCOM-BC analyses, abundances of 5 of the 35 most abundant genera were differentially associated with frequency of breastfeeding bouts (Bifidobacterium, Micrococcus, Pedobacter, Acidocella, Achromobacter); 5 genera (Bifidobacterium, Agreia, Pedobacter, Rugamonas, Stenotrophomonas) were associated with total time breastfeeding. These results indicate that breastfeeding patterns and infant caregiving ecology may play a role in influencing HMM composition. Future research is needed to identify whether these relationships are consistent in other populations and if they are associated with variation in the infant's gastrointestinal (including oral) microbiome.
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