Early Life Presence of 6’SL Alters Microbiota, Early Life Brain Gene Expression and Long-Term Potentiation

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are key components of breast milk. Presence of 6’sialyllactose (6’SL) in pre-weaning diet has been shown to program adult attentional processing and mnesic functions. The results of this study support a strong impact of presence of 6’SL on several microbiota species, in particular Actinobacteria, strengthening the evidence of a mediator role of microbiota in sialylated HMO related effects. Beyond microbiota mediation, we also reported a prefrontal cortex specific alteration of gene expression associated with myelination at PND 10-11 only, suggesting that brain connectivity is impacted by early life presence of 6’SL.