title: Changes in the Milk Metabolome of the Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) with Time after Birth--Three Phases in Early Lactation and Progressive Individual Differences.
abstract: Ursids (bears) in general, and giant pandas in particular, are highly altricial at birth. The components of bear milks and their changes with time may be uniquely adapted to nourish relatively immature neonates, protect them from pathogens, and support the maturation of neonatal digestive physiology. Serial milk samples collected from three giant pandas in early lactation were subjected to untargeted metabolite profiling and multivariate analysis. Changes in milk metabolites with time after birth were analysed by Principal Component Analysis, Hierarchical Cluster Analysis and further supported by Orthogonal Partial Least Square-Discriminant Analysis, revealing three phases of milk maturation: days 1-6 (Phase 1), days 7-20 (Phase 2), and beyond day 20 (Phase 3). While the compositions of Phase 1 milks were essentially indistinguishable among individuals, divergences emerged during the second week of lactation. OPLS regression analysis positioned against the growth rate of one cub tentatively inferred a correlation with changes in the abundance of a trisaccharide, isoglobotriose, previously observed to be a major oligosaccharide in ursid milks. Three artificial milk formulae used to feed giant panda cubs were also analysed, and were found to differ markedly in component content from natural panda milk. These findings have implications for the dependence of the ontogeny of all species of bears, and potentially other members of the Carnivora and beyond, on the complexity and sequential changes in maternal provision of micrometabolites in the immediate period after birth.
authors.affiliation: Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom.|Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology for Endangered Wildlife, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Northern Suburb, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology for Endangered Wildlife, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Northern Suburb, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhihe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology for Endangered Wildlife, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Northern Suburb, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology for Endangered Wildlife, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Northern Suburb, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hairui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology for Endangered Wildlife, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Northern Suburb, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, P.R. China.
authors.forename: I Kati
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Loeffler
authors.affiliation: Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary, and Life Sciences, Graham Kerr Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Malcolm W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Kennedy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007774:Lactation / Q000502:physiology*; D055442:Metabolome; D008892:Milk / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D036801:Parturition / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors; D001503:Ursidae / Q000502:physiology*