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. 2023 Sep 7:10:1165764.
doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1165764. eCollection 2023.

Maternal stress is associated with higher protein-bound amino acid concentrations in human milk

Hannah G Juncker  1   2   3 , Eva F G Naninck  1   2 , Britt J van Keulen  2   3 , Jolinda E Harinck  2 , Lidewij Schipper  4 , Paul J Lucassen  1 , Johannes B van Goudoever  2   3 , Susanne R de Rooij  3   5   6 , Aniko Korosi  1
Affiliations

Maternal stress is associated with higher protein-bound amino acid concentrations in human milk

Hannah G Juncker et al. Front Nutr. .

Abstract

Background: Maternal stress in the postpartum period affects not only the mother but also her newborn child, who is at increased risk of developing metabolic and mental disorders later in life. The mechanisms by which stress is transmitted to the infant are not yet fully understood. Human milk (HM) is a potential candidate as maternal stress affects various components of HM, e.g., fat and immunoglobulin concentrations. To date, it is unknown whether maternal stress also affects the amino acids (AAs) in HM, even though this nutrient is of extreme importance to child health and development. This study aimed to investigate whether and how maternal stress is associated with the AA composition of HM.

Methods: In this observational cohort study (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), lactating women were recruited in two study groups: a high-stress (HS) group; women whose child was hospitalized (n = 24), and a control (CTL) group; women who gave birth to a healthy child (n = 73). HM was collected three times a day, on postpartum days 10, 17, and 24. Perceived psychological stress was measured using validated questionnaires, while biological stress measures were based on hair, saliva, and HM cortisol concentrations. HM protein-bound and free AAs were analyzed by liquid chromatography and compared between groups.

Results: Maternal perceived stress scores were higher in the HS group (p < 0.01). The concentrations of protein-bound AAs in HM were higher in the HS group compared to the CTL group (p = 0.028) and were positively associated with HM cortisol concentrations (p = 0.024). The concentrations of free AAs did not differ between study groups and were unrelated to cortisol concentrations.

Conclusion: Findings from this prospective cohort study suggest that maternal stress in the postpartum period is associated with an altered human milk amino acid composition, which could play a role in the transmission of maternal stress effects to her child. The physiological implications of these stress-induced changes for infant development await future research.

Keywords: amino acid; breast milk; early life stress; lactation; postpartum stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

JG is the founder and director of the Dutch National Human Milk Bank and a member of the National Health Council. JG has been a member of the National Breastfeeding Council from March 2010 to March 2020. LS was employed by Danone Nutricia Research. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Timeline of study procedures. p, postpartum day.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Flowchart of the study population. CTL group, control group; HS group, high-stress group; p, postpartum day.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Dynamics of amino acids over the study period per study group. Graphs show the concentrations of the protein-bound amino acids (A, B) and the free amino acids (C, D) at the different collection moments. The continued line indicates the control group and the dotted line indicates the high-stress group. Error bars indicate the standard error of the mean. Glutamate family members contain glutamine, arginine, and proline. Aspartate family members contain asparagine, methionine, threonine, isoleucine, and lysine. Serine family members contain serine, glycine, and cysteine. Pyruvate family members contain valine, alanine, and leucine. Aromatic family members contain phenylalanine and tyrosine. Histidine family members contain histidine.
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Grants and funding

This research was funded by the NWO Food, Cognition, and Behavior program (057-14-003) and by the Amsterdam Brain and Cognition. PL was supported by the Center for Urban Mental Health.

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