Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT02940795

Dietary Sugars Found In Breast Milk

The majority of pregnant women in the United States are either overweight or obese at conception with their offspring having greater adiposity at birth, a 2-fold greater risk of later obesity and neonatal insulin resistance.

Conventional wisdom holds that breast-milk composition is uniform; recently our group has questioned this. An increase in consumption of dietary sugars including fructose over the past 30 years has risen, and this has been associated with chronic metabolic and endocrine disorders and phenotypic alterations that promote obesity and diabetes. However, no prior studies have examined how maternal increases of sugars/fructose during lactation affects breast-milk composition with potential transmission to the infant. The objective of this proposal is to comprehensively assess the presence and pharmacokinetics of sugars, including fructose in human breast-milk in response to maternal consumption. The central hypothesis is that a graded, dose-response relationship be-tween maternal adiposity and sugar concentrations in breast-milk exist and that milk fructose concentrations are associated with altered body composition in the first months of life. This proposal, guided by compelling preliminary data will examine the evidence linking high intakes of milk fructose with altered metabolism and early obesity by pursuing two Specific Aims: 1) Test novel relationships between breast-milk sugars and changes in infant fat mass and 2) Characterize the pharmacokinetics of milk sugars after consuming a 20 oz. cola. These aims are significant given the intractability of obesity/diabetes and a potentially identifiable novel target, making for a clear but powerful public message to reduce sugary beverage consumption during lactation.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Lactation Behavior Breast Feeding Feeding Behavior

Age range

18 year–45 year

Sex eligibility

Female

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

About this study

One of the most highly effective preventive measures a mother can make in protecting the health of her infant and herself is to breastfeed. Despite extensive research on breast-milk, limited information beyond basic micro/macronutrient composition currently exists in the literature. Breast-milk is a complex, non-uniform biological substance. In prior studies the PI has shown significant associations be-tween non-nutritive constituents in breast-milk (e.g. IL-6, TNF-α, insulin, leptin) and body composition in infants starting at 4wks of age. The putative causal influence of breastfeeding reducing obesity is mixed with no clear probative evidence showing causal pathways. Despite many studies in this area, there are no detailed studies that have examined the potential modifying role of maternal diet, especially one high in sugars on the compositional makeup of the three largest breast-milk sugars (glucose, galactose and lactose) with none to date looking at fructose. Animal models have demonstrated that the obesogenic effect of maternal fructose consumption is transmitted to offspring via breast-milk with fructose-fed lactating dams producing offspring with double fasting insulin levels compared to control pups. This is relevant in humans because of the increase in dietary sugar consumption that has occurred in the population.

A mother/infant cohort (n=37) has been established with detailed infant phenotypic body composition (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) and detailed breast-milk analysis (insulin, leptin, IL-6, TNF-α but no milk sugars other than glucose) in exclusively breast feeding mothers varying widely in BMI (19 to 44 kg/m2). Sampling of breast-milk and infant body composition occurred at both 4 and 24wks. As a proof of concept, fructose was detected in breast-milk from 9 of these mothers which was significantly related to infant body fat, which is a novel finding to date and has never been reported in the literature. Building upon this prior work this study will determine the concentration and pharmacokinetics of breast-milk sugars after a test beverage is consumed.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Exclusively lactating mothers
  • Mothers must be 3 weeks to 6 weeks postpartum

Exclusion criteria

  • Smoked during pregnancy or are currently smoking
  • Unable to provide breast milk samples using a breast pump

Treatment and study plan

Coke

Other

Patients were given a 20 ounce bottle of Coke Cola.

Diet Rite

Other

Patients were given a 12 ounce can of Diet Rite.

Primary outcomes

  1. Fructose in breast milk will be measured in human breast milk at one month.

    Time frame: One month

    Breast milk fructose at one month will be analyzed.

  2. The change in fructose in breast milk from one to six months.

    Time frame: Six months

    The potential change in breast milk fructose from one to six months will be investigated.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Breast milk fructose will be measured after the ingestion of a regular 20 ounce bottle of coke and a 12 ounce can of diet rite.

    Time frame: 6 hours.

    After the ingestion of either a regular 20 ounce bottle of coke or a 12 ounce can of diet rite at ~ 6:00 am a milk sample will be obtained every hour until 12:00 pm.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Oklahoma

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Maternal Transmission of Dietary Sugars in Breast Milk

Important dates

Study start
2016
Primary completion
2016
Study completion
2016
First posted
Oct 21, 2016
Registry last updated
Jan 24, 2017

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.