Milk Lipids and Fatty Acids in Neonatal Intestinal Development and immunity

Adequate structural and functional integrity of the gut can be shaped by nutrition and is not only crucial for a healthy gut, but also for overall health and well-being. Gut functions, including the gut-immune system that provides protection against infections, are not fully developed at birth. This is amongst others reflected by a higher risk for severe complications in preterm infants. Long term health consequences may include stunting and neurodevelopmental impairment

It is therefore of pivotal value to study the factors capable of enhancing gut functional integrity and immunity in early life to provide the right early life nutrition and assure later life benefits. Vegetable oils, the main source for lipids in infant formula, do not have the complexity of human milk lipids and hence bovine milk lipids (having a more comparable fatty acid profile and triglyceride composition as human milk) are increasingly used in formulae. We hypothesize that due to its compositional similarity to human milk lipids, bovine milk lipids can display similar immune activity.

This project focuses on the lipid components of human and bovine milk by unlocking their bioactive potential in modulating the gut/immune maturation and protecting against viral and bacterial infection to support the use of bovine milk lipids in early life nutrition. To achieve this goal, we will prepare hydrolysed fractions (Fatty acid mixtures) of human breast milk and bovine milk lipids and use recently established ex-vivo models of gut epithelial maturation and neonatal organoid (and immune cell) (co)cultures. Overall, this project will contribute to the understanding of breastmilk lipid functionality, support the use of bovine milk lipids in early life nutrition, and thereby deliver concrete targets for further improvement of infant formulas.