title: Fructose in Breast Milk Is Positively Associated with Infant Body Composition at 6 Months of Age.
abstract: Dietary sugars have been shown to promote excess adiposity among children and adults; however, no study has examined fructose in human milk and its effects on body composition during infancy. Twenty-five mother-infant dyads attended clinical visits to the Oklahoma Health Sciences Center at 1 and 6 months of infant age. Infants were exclusively breastfed for 6 months and sugars in breast milk (i.e., fructose, glucose, lactose) were measured by Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and glucose oxidase. Infant body composition was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at 1 and 6 months. Multiple linear regression was used to examine associations between breast milk sugars and infant body composition at 6 months of age. Fructose, glucose, and lactose were present in breast milk and stable across visits (means = 6.7 μg/mL, 255.2 μg/mL, and 7.6 g/dL, respectively). Despite its very low concentration, fructose was the only sugar significantly associated with infant body composition. A 1-μg/mL higher breast milk fructose was associated with a 257 g higher body weight (p= 0.02), 170 g higher lean mass (p= 0.01), 131 g higher fat mass (p= 0.05), and 5 g higher bone mineral content (p= 0.03). In conclusion, fructose is detectable in human breast milk and is positively associated with all components of body composition at 6 months of age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, 2250 Alcazar Street, CSC 200, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA. goran@usc.edu.
authors.forename: Michael I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Goran
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, 2250 Alcazar Street, CSC 200, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA. ashley.ann.martin@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ashley A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, 2250 Alcazar Street, CSC 200, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA. tanya.alderete@usc.edu.
authors.forename: Tanya L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Alderete
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA. hideji.fujiwara@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Hideji
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA. David-Fields@ouhsc.edu.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Fields
mesh_terms: D001823:Body Composition; D001835:Body Weight; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005632:Fructose / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D005632:Fructose
keywords: added sugars; breast milk; breastfeeding; fructose; maternal programming