Nutritional interventions’ impacts on human milk: Three trials in low-resource settings
Human milk (HM) composition is variable to support changing infant needs and is influenced by maternal diet and health. We harmonized HM data from three randomized trials in Burkina Faso (MISAME-III), Pakistan (Mumta-LW), and Tanzania (ELICIT) within the International Milk Composition (IMiC) Consortium to test how maternal nutrition affects HM composition. Balanced energy-protein (BEP) supplements or nicotinamide given to lactating mothers increased milk B-vitamins, while macronutrients, oligosaccharides, bioactive proteins, and microbiome composition were physiologically buffered. Metabolomic and proteomic analyses revealed shifts in vitamin-related metabolites, triglyceride profiles, and intracellular protein representation. In a MISAME-III subset, maternal and infant blood showed concordant changes. Postnatal BEP improved infant growth only in the more undernourished cohort. Improved milk micronutrient quality across settings supports extending maternal supplementation into lactation.
Authors
- Jennifer E. Van Eyk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9050-148X)
- Melissa B. Manus (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3640-1781)
- Joann M. McDermid (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5829-1897)
- Andrew N. Mertens (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1050-6721)
- Meghan B. Azad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5942-4444)
- Niveda Sundararaman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7708-3754)
- Yasir Shafiq (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1576-724X)
- Kim A. Lagerborg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2490-2191)
- Nima Aghaeepour (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6117-8764)
- Waqasuddin Khan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7995-8163)
- Setareh Shahab‐Ferdows (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5058-4935)
- Daniela Hampel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0288-7680)
- Liat Shenhav (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1708-6050)
- Fyezah Jehan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5874-4358)
- Trenton Dailey-Chwalibóg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8204-4925)
- Aneela Pasha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5866-8239)
- Jo‐Anna B Baxter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4718-0382)
- Laéticia Céline Toe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4615-5388)
- Megan R. Beggs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2690-1785)
- Lars Bode (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9914-9571)
- Muhammad Imran Nisar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2378-4720)
- Ameer Muhammed
- Lishi Deng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9802-5078)
- Naveed Iqbal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-6263-2322)
- Mohit M. Jain
- Lindsay H. Allen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8729-5213)
- Mark Daniel DeBoer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1462-591X)
- Chi-Hung Shu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-3486-8856)
- Kelsey B. Fehr (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3551-8144)
- April Jauhal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3636-4765)
- Alan Hubbard
- Carl Lachat
Institutions
- Aga Khan University (PK)
- Agricultural Research Service (US)
- United States Department of Agriculture (US)
- Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences (PK)
- University of Antwerp (BE)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Hospital for Sick Children (CA)
- Aga Khan University Hospital (PK)
- Ghent University (BE)
- Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CA)
- Western Human Nutrition Research Center (US)
- Vital Pakistan Trust (PK)
- Stanford Medicine (US)
- Centre for Global Health Research (CA)
- Cedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute (US)
- AFRICSanté (BF)
- Mothers’ Milk Bank (US)
- Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (BF)
- The University of Texas at San Antonio (US)
- University of Virginia (US)
- New York University (US)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Stanford University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science
- Published
- 2026-10-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aee9284
- Primary Topic
- Infant Nutrition and Health
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00