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. 2023 Oct 26;15(21):4546.
doi: 10.3390/nu15214546.

The Gestational Pathologies Effect on the Human Milk Redox Homeostasis: A First Step towards Its Definition

Chiara Peila  1 , Lorenzo Riboldi  1 , Elena Spada  1 , Alessandra Coscia  1 , Ignazio Barbagallo  2 , Giovanni Li Volti  2 , Fabio Galvano  2 , Diego Gazzolo  3
Affiliations

The Gestational Pathologies Effect on the Human Milk Redox Homeostasis: A First Step towards Its Definition

Chiara Peila et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Background: Human Milk (HM) is a dynamic nourishment; its composition is influenced by several conditions such as gestational age, maternal diet and ethnicity. It appears important to evaluate the impact that gestational pathologies have on HM components and if their presence, as a source of oxidative stress in the mother, influence milk's redox homeostasis. To assess the effect of Preeclampsia (PE) and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) on some aspects of human milk redox homeostasis, we chose to investigate both oxidative and antioxidant aspects, with, respectively, Lipid hydroperoxides (LOOHs) and Glutathione (GSH).

Methods: Women with PE, GDM and who were healthy were recruited for this study. Colostrum, transitional and mature milk samples were collected. GSH and LOOHs levels were measured using a spectrophotometric test. To investigate the effect of pathology on redox homeostasis, a mixed linear model with unistructural covariance structure was performed.

Results: A total of 120 mothers were recruited. The GSH concentration results were significantly lower in GDM women than in healthy women only in colostrum (p < 0.01). No other differences emerged. LOOHs was not detectable in almost all the samples.

Discussion: Our study is the first to extensively evaluate these components in the HM of women with these gestational pathologies. The main observation is that GDM can alter the GSH level of HM, mainly in colostrum.

Keywords: GSH; LOOHs; breastfeeding; gestational diabetes mellitus; human milk; newborn nutrition; preeclampsia.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Box-plot of GSH by lactation stage and pathology. Median and interquartile range (IQR) were reported for each lactation stage (1 = Colostrum; 2 = Transitional milk; 3 = Mature milk). A p < 0.05 was used to define statistical significance. Preeclamptic group (PE); Gestational diabetes mellitus group (GDM); Healthy women group (Healthy).
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This research received no external funding.