Advancing Human Milk Oligosaccharide Research: Learnings From Clinical Trials

Among the main breastmilk components are the non-digestible human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs).HMOs are not commonly present in farmed-animal milks and are structurally different from generic prebiotics like Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) and plantderived Fructo-oligosacharides (FOS). The similarity of HMOs with mucosal glycans, together with numerous basic research data suggest that HMOs affect the (i) establishment of mucous adapted commensals, (ii) adherence of pathogens to the epithelium and (iii) mucosal cell reactivity, thereby possibly providing protection from infections. The first clinical intervention trials with 2 synthetic HMOs demonstrate their safety and tolerance and might contribute to proctection from infections, possibly through the modulation of the establishing gut microbiota.