Premature babies get metabolic boost from breastfeeding

New York: A mother’s breast milk can help premature babies get metabolic boost, according to a study that may lead to better baby formula. Researchers at Pennsylvania State University in the US compared the breast milk of mothers with babies born prematurely - between 28 and 37 weeks gestation — and at term — after 38 weeks. They examined whether there were differences in the composition of the breast milks’ micro RNAs, snippets of RNA that affect gene expression and can be passed to the infant. “We found that there are differences in these micro RNA profiles, and that the majority of the altered micro RNAs influence metabolism,” said Molly Carney, a medical student at Penn State University. “If those micro RNAs are being transferred to the infant, that could potentially impact how the newborn processes energy and nutrients,” Carney added. Babies born prematurely are at risk for a host of problems, including failure to thrive and neurodevelopmental delays. They also tend to be born at a lower weight than term infants, because of these issues, premature babies have different nutritional needs than babies born at term. Previous studies have shown that the macronutrients — fats, sugars and proteins — in the breast milk of mothers with premature babies are customised to meet the unique needs of these infants. Researchers collected 36 samples of breast milk from mothers with infants born at term and 31 samples from mothers with infants born prematurely. They then processed the samples in a lab, extracting the micro RNAs and comparing them to the human genome to pinpoint the differences between premature and term breast milk. After analysis, they identified nine micro RNAs that were significantly different in the premature breast milk.