Paper Questions

Question 1

What is present in breast milk besides nutrients that feed the infant?

Answer 1

Fats, proteins, sugars (1-3-7 ratio), immune cells (macrophages, stem cells), bioactive molecules(protect
against infection)

Question 2

What does breast milk do for the infant microbiota (microbial fauna)?

Answer 2

Promote growth of microbes called Bifidobacteria

Question 3

What is special about Bifidobacterium longum bv. infantis (how is it affected by breast milk and what does it do for the infant)?

Answer 3

Makes up 90% of microbiome, grows robustly with breast milk, bacteria has genes for enzymes needed to digest breast milk oligosaccharides, consumes oligosaccharides and starving bad bacteria, make short chain fatty acids that feed other beneficial bacteria

Question 4

What are HMOs and how do they protect the infant?

Answer 4

Human milk oligosaccharides, foster growth of bifidobacterium, ward off dangerous bacteria, mimic carbohydrate structure to prevent pathogens from attaching to and entering gut cells

Question 5

What is necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and when is it a problem for babies?

Answer 5

Starts with bacterial infection, overwhelms the gut in weeks, intestinal tissue dies, baby suffers disability after intestinal tissue is removed, neurological damage and even death
Especially if premature babes have “leaky gut” lets bacteria in leading to over reactive inflammatory response