Impact of Infant Feeding on Newborn Metabolomic Profile

Metabolomics is of particular interest in the field of nutrition, since nutrients interact with a number of targets, metabolic pathways and functions.

A suitable biofluid to study nutrient intake is urine, which is the most commonly used biological sample for metabolomic analysis and can be collected with simple and non-invasive methods.

Up to now, no studies have investigated healthy term infants metabolome and its modulation according to different dietary regimens such as formula-feeding or breastfeeding.

The aim of this study is to evaluate, with untargeted modalities, the urine metabolomic profile of a group of infants fed with a standard formula, a group of infants fed with a formula supplemented with functional ingredients and a group of breast-fed infants.

Formula-fed infants participate to PLA-LENI-09 study (NCT01197365). We have included also a control group of breast-fed infants, as, from a scientific point of view, they represent the "gold standard" and no data are available on their metabolomic profile.

Inclusion criteria

• Infants being exclusively either breastfed or formula-fed by the 21st day of life
• Infants of both sexes born with natural or caesarian delivery
• Gestational age between 37 and 42 completed weeks
• Birth weight between 10th and 90th percentile of birth weight for gestational age, according to the North-Italian growth charts
• Single birth
• Caucasian parents

Exclusion criteria

• Infants with genetic and/or congenital diseases
• Infants receiving antibiotic therapy
• Infants with neonatal diseases requiring hospitalisation for longer than 7 days
• Infants at risk for atopy and/or having familial history for atopy
• Mothers with metabolic or chronic diseases
• Infant selected for another clinical study
• Parents refusing to sign a written informed consent