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Lactational changes in concentration and distribution of ganglioside molecular species in human breast milk from Chinese mothers

  • Original Article
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Lipids

Abstract

Gangliosides play a critical role in human brain development and function. Human breast milk (HBM) is an important dietary source of gangliosides for the growing infant. In this study, ganglioside concentrations were measured in the breast milk from a cross-sectional sample of Chinese mothers over an 8-month lactation period. The average total ganglioside concentration increased from 13.1 mg/l during the first month to 20.9 mg/l by 8 months of lactation. The average concentration during the typically solely breast-feeding period of 1‒6 months was 18.9 mg/l. This is the first study to report the relative distribution of the individual ganglioside molecular species through lactation for any population group. The ganglioside molecular species are made up of different fatty acid moieties that influence the physical properties of these gangliosides, and hence affect their function. The GM3 molecular species containing long-chain acyl fatty acids had the most prominent changes, increasing in both concentration and relative distribution. The equivalent long-chain acyl fatty acid GD3 molecular species typically decreased in concentration and relative distribution. The lactational trends for both concentration and relative distribution for the very long-chain acyl fatty acid molecular species were more varied. The major GM3 and GD3 molecular species during lactation were d40:1 and d42:1, respectively. An understanding of ganglioside molecular species distribution in HBM is essential for accurate application of mass spectrometry methods for ganglioside quantification.

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Abbreviations

MRM:

Multiple reaction monitoring

HPLC:

High-performance liquid chromatography

FA:

Fatty acid

HBM:

Human breast milk

MS:

Mass spectrometry

HPTLC:

High-performance thin-layer chromatography

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the New Zealand Primary Growth Partnership post-farm gate dairy programme, funded by Fonterra Co-operative Group and the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries. The authors would like to thank Maree Luckman for statistical analysis and guidance and Claire Woodhall for editing the manuscript. The authors would also like to thank Sergey Ukraintsev for valuable discussion around the study design and Xiaojia Jiang for co-ordination of the breast milk collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fonterra Research and Development Centre, Dairy Farm Road, Private Bag 11029, Palmerston North, 4442, New Zealand

    Lin Ma, Alastair K. H. MacGibbon, Paul McJarrow & Bertram Y. Fong

  2. Department of Clinical Nutrition, Guangzhou Woman and Children’s Medical Center, Guangzhou Hospital, Guangzhou, China

    Xihong Liu

  3. Fonterra Co-Operative Group Ltd, Dairy Farm Road, Private Bag 11029, Palmerston North, 4442, New Zealand

    Angela Rowan

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  1. Lin Ma
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  2. Xihong Liu
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  3. Alastair K. H. MacGibbon
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  4. Angela Rowan
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  5. Paul McJarrow
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  6. Bertram Y. Fong
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Correspondence to Bertram Y. Fong.

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Ma, L., Liu, X., MacGibbon, A.K.H. et al. Lactational changes in concentration and distribution of ganglioside molecular species in human breast milk from Chinese mothers. Lipids 50, 1145–1154 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-015-4073-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-015-4073-1

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