Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39486685›Full record

Observational studyThe American journal of clinical nutrition2025

Human milk feeding practices and serum immune profiles of one-year-old infants in the CHILD birth cohort study.

Spencer R Ames, Larisa C Lotoski, Lucie Rodriguez, Petter Brodin, Piushkumar J Mandhane, Theo J Moraes, Elinor Simons, Stuart E Turvey, Padmaja Subbarao, Meghan B Azad

Abstract readObservational Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Observational study in The American journal of clinical nutrition, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Immune development in early life.Nature immunology · 2026
    Review
  2. Observational
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Spencer R AmesDepartment of Immunology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Manitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Centre (MILC), Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Larisa C LotoskiManitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Centre (MILC), Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Lucie RodriguezDepartment of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Petter BrodinDepartment of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Immunology and Inflammation, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Piushkumar J MandhaneDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Theo J MoraesDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Elinor SimonsManitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Centre (MILC), Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Stuart E TurveyDepartment of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Padmaja SubbaraoDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Meghan B AzadDepartment of Immunology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Manitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Centre (MILC), Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Electronic address: Meghan.Azad@umanitoba.ca.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundBreastfeeding and human milk consumption are associated with immune system development; however, the underlying mechanisms and the impact of different infant feeding practices are unclear.

objectivesThis study aimed to investigate how current human milk feeding (HMF) status is related to infant immune biomarker profiles, as well as explore relationships with HMF history (i.e., duration, exclusivity, and method: directly from the breast or pumped and bottled).

methodsThis observational birth cohort study involved 605 infants from the Canadian CHILD Cohort Study. Infant feeding was captured from hospital birth records and parent questionnaires. Ninety-two biomarkers reflecting immune system activity and development were measured in serum collected at 1 y (12.6 ± 1.4 mo) using the Olink Target 96 Inflammation panel. Associations were determined using multivariable regression (adjusted for sex, time until blood sample centrifugation, and study site).

resultsNearly half (42.6%) of infants were still receiving HMF at the time of blood sampling. Compared with non-HMF infants, HMF infants had higher levels of serum fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF-21, adjusted standardized β coefficient: 0.56; 95% CI: 0.41, 0.72), cluster of differentiation 244 (CD244, β: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.19, 0.50), chemokine ligand 6 (CXCL6, β: 0.34; 95% CI: 0.18, 0.50), and chemokine ligand 20 (CCL20, β: 0.26; 95% CI: 0.09, 0.42) and lower extracellular newly identified receptor for advanced glycation end-products binding protein (EN-RAGE, β: -0.16; 95% CI: -0.29, -0.03). Among non-HMF infants, serum interleukin 7 (IL-7) had a marginally positive association with past HMF duration (β: 0.05; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.08) that persisted for ≤5 mo post-HMF cessation. Exclusive HMF duration and HMF method (at 3 mo of age) were not associated with any biomarkers.

conclusionsCurrent HMF status and (to a lesser extent) HMF history are associated with several inflammation-associated biomarkers in 1-y-old infants. These results provide new evidence that HMF impacts immune activity and development and suggest hypotheses about the underlying mechanisms. They also highlight the importance of including current HMF status in immune system-focused infant serum proteomic studies.

Indexed as

BiomarkersBreast FeedingMilk, HumanBirth CohortCanadaCohort StudiesFemaleHumansInfantInfant Nutritional Physiological PhenomenaMaleBiomarkersbreastfeedingbreast milkCHILD cohort studydevelopmental origins of health and diseaseearly life nutritionhuman milkimmune system developmentinfant feeding practiceslactationserum proteomics

Identifiers

PMID39486685
PMCPMC11747196

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.