Influence of HMOs on commensals and pathogens – what do we know?

Professor Clemens Kunz discusses in this video the relevance of HMOs structures which make them unique components without any similarity to other oligosaccharides. This is a beginning of a new era and today some specific HMOs are produced in large scale and can be added to infant formula.

First human studies with specific HMOs have shown that they are safe and lead to similar growth of breastfed infants. Professor Kunz highlights that there is an increasing knowledge that these components may not only influence commensals such as Bifidobacteria in the infant’s gut, but also, may help to prevent or ameliorate diseases by directly interfering with different pathogens at the same time.