European Academy of Allergy & Clinical Immunology (EAACI) Annual Congress 2019

Human Milk Oligosaccharides: New Ways to Shape the Gut Microbiome in Cow’s Milk Protein Allergy

The human gut is colonised by a wide diversity of microbes and they exhibit highly evolved synergistic relationships to provide essential biological functions to the host and how the gut microbiome is influenced by many factors in early life. It is important to establish a stable gut microbial community, which closely tracks host growth and immune development. The mechanisms whereby delays or alterations in the establishment of these communities can lead to microbiome immaturity, raise the risk of allergy development including cow’s milk protein allergy (CMPA).

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMO) are multifunctional breast milk components that shape the developing gut microbiota and influence the developing immune system. Supplementing specialty formulas for the management of CMPA with HMO offers a new way to shape the gut microbiome in infants with CMPA that for any reason cannot be breastfed.