Increased Intake of Foods Providing Alpha-Linolenic Acid Modifies Nutritional and Non-nutritional Characteristics of Breast Milk: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

BACKGROUND

Improving n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) dietary intake could modify the characteristics of breast milk. The "Bleu-Blanc-Cœurr" (BBC) food products display increased α-linolenic acid (ALA) content compared with standard food items.

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to evaluate whether improving ALA dietary intake by animal and vegetal BBC products during pregnancy and lactation increases ALA content of breast milk on day (d) 21 postpartum (PP) (primary aim), modifies the fatty acids (FAs), human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), hormone and immune composition of breast milk, as well as the intestinal microbiota of neonates (secondary aims).

METHODS

In a single-center, interventional, randomized, open-label trial, adult females, ≤28 wk of amenorrhea, substituted (BBC group) or not [control group (CTRL)] their usual food with BBC animal and vegetal products containing ALA from month 7 of pregnancy until d45-PP. Food intake, breast milk FAs, lipidome, insulin, leptin, adiponectin, interleukin (IL)-6, lactoferrin, immunoglobulin (Ig) A and G, HMOs, and the fecal microbiota composition of neonates were analyzed.

RESULTS

Of the 66 included and randomly assigned females, 58 were analyzed. In breast milk, ALA and n-3 PUFA levels were, respectively, 75% and 52% higher at d21-PP, and 38% and 22% higher at d45-PP, in the BBC (n = 28) than in the CTRL (n = 30) groups. At d21-PP, the breast milk lipidome, insulin, IL-6, IgG (P < 0.05), and HMO levels (P < 0.01) differed. The alpha-diversity of the fecal microbiota of neonates at d21-PP was greater (P < 0.05) in the BBC than in the CTRL groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Improvement in alpha-linolenic acid dietary intake modifies nutritional and non-nutritional characteristics of breast milk, as well as the fecal microbiota of neonates. Whether this could lead to potential health benefits deserves further investigation. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03805997.