Comparison of bacterial profiles in human milk from mothers of term and preterm infants

International Breastfeeding Journal

Research

Noriko Mizuno¹  Midori Date²  Miori Tanaka²  Mizuho Ito²  Kumiko Miura³  Katsumi Mizuno⁴ 

[1] Japan Human Milk Bank Association, 4-4 Nihonbashi-Hisamatsucho, Chuo-ku, 103-8480, Tokyo, Japan;The Nippon Foundation Human Milk Bank, Nihonbashi-koamicho Square Building 1F, 17-10 Nihonbashi-koamicho, Chuo-ku, 103-0016, Tokyo, Japan;The Nippon Foundation Human Milk Bank, Nihonbashi-koamicho Square Building 1F, 17-10 Nihonbashi-koamicho, Chuo-ku, 103-0016, Tokyo, Japan;Faculty of Medicine, Oita University, 1-1 Idaigaoka, Hasama-machi, Yufu-shi, 879-5593, Oita, Japan;The Nippon Foundation Human Milk Bank, Nihonbashi-koamicho Square Building 1F, 17-10 Nihonbashi-koamicho, Chuo-ku, 103-0016, Tokyo, Japan;Japan Human Milk Bank Association, 4-4 Nihonbashi-Hisamatsucho, Chuo-ku, 103-8480, Tokyo, Japan;Department of Pediatrics, Showa University of Medicine, 1-5-8 Hatanodai, Shinagawa-ku, 142-8666, Tokyo, Japan;

关键词: Neonatal intensive care unit;    Human milk;    Donor milk;    Human milk microbiota;    Bacteriological test;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13006-023-00563-3

 received in 2023-01-06, accepted in 2023-05-14,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundReducing the disposal of donated human milk (HM) is important for efficient management of human milk banks (HMBs). The presence of bacteria growth is the main factor that contributes to the disposal of donated HM. The bacterial profile in HM is suspected to differ between term and preterm mothers, with HM from preterm mothers containing more bacteria. Thus, elucidation of the causes of bacterial growth in preterm and term HM may help to reduce the disposal of donated preterm HM. This study compared the bacterial profiles of HM between mothers of term infants and mothers of preterm infants.MethodsThis pilot study was conducted in the first Japanese HMB, which was initiated in 2017. This study analyzed 214 human milk samples (term: 75, preterm: 139) donated by 47 registered donors (term: 31, preterm: 16) from January to November 2021. Bacterial culture results in term and preterm HM were retrospectively reviewed in May 2022. Differences in total bacterial count and bacterial species count per batch were analyzed using the Mann–Whitney U test. Bacterial loads were analyzed using the Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test.ResultsThe disposal rate did not significantly differ between term and preterm groups (p = 0.77), but the total amount of disposal was greater in the preterm group (p < 0.01). Coagulase-negative Staphylococci, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas fluorescens were frequently found in both types of HM. Serratia liquefaciens (p < 0.001) and two other bacteria were present in term HM; a total of five types of bacteria, including Enterococcus faecalis and Enterobacter aerogenes (p < 0.001) were present in preterm HM. The median (interquartile range) total bacterial counts were 3,930 (435–23,365) colony-forming units (CFU)/mL for term HM and 26,700 (4,050–334,650) CFU/mL for preterm HM (p < 0.001).ConclusionsThis study revealed that HM from preterm mothers had a higher total bacterial count and different types of bacteria than HM from term mothers. Additionally, preterm infants can receive nosocomial-infection-causing bacteria in the NICU through their mother’s milk. Enhanced hygiene instructions for preterm mothers may reduce the disposal of valuable preterm human milk, along with the risk of HM pathogen transmission to infants in NICUs.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

【 图 表 】

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