Concentrations of Carotenoids and Tocopherols in Breast Milk from Urban Chinese Mothers and Their Associations with Maternal Characteristics: A Cross-Sectional Study

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 9; no. 11; p. 1229
• Main Authors: Xue, Yong, Campos-Giménez, Esther, Redeuil, Karine Meisser, Lévèques, Antoine, Actis-Goretta, Lucas, Vinyes-Pares, Gerard, Zhang, Yumei, Wang, Peiyu, Thakkar, Sagar K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 09.11.2017; MDPI
• Subjects: Baby foods; Body mass; Body mass index; Body size; Breast milk; Breastfeeding & lactation; Carotenoids; colostrum; Cross-sectional studies; cross-sectional study; Dietary intake; High performance liquid chromatography; Lactation; lactation stage; Liquid chromatography; Lutein; Lycopene; Milk; Obstetrics; Postpartum; Socioeconomics; Tocopherol; Tocopherols; Vitamin E; Zeaxanthin; β-Carotene; breast milk; cross-sectional study; tocopherols; carotenoids; colostrum; lactation stage
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu9111229

Milk composition remains the best estimate of infant requirements. The aims of this study were to quantify carotenoids and tocopherols in human milk from healthy Chinese mothers, and to explore their associations with lactation stage, region, socio-economic and obstetric characteristics, and dietary intake. Human milk was obtained from 509 healthy mothers, and concentrations of carotenoids and tocopherols were analyzed by Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography. The mothers' socio-economic and obstetric characteristics and dietary intake through a single 24-h dietary recall were evaluated. The median concentrations (μg/100 mL) of each component of 0-4 days, 5-11 days, 12-30 days, 31-60 days, 61-120 days, and 121-240 days postpartum were respectively as follows: β-carotene 8.0, 2.8, 2.1, 1.7, 1.9, 1.8; β-cryptoxanthin 6.2, 3.4, 2.4, 1.7, 1.8, 2.1; lutein 5.7, 7.0, 2.2, 2.9, 2.8, 3.7; lycopene 6.3, 2.5, 1.8, 1.4, 1.4, 1.5; zeaxanthin 1.0, 1.4, 0.8, 0.8, 1.0, 1.1; α-tocopherol 645, 382, 239, 206, 212, 211; γ-tocopherol 68, 63, 70, 73, 68, 88. The levels of those components varied significantly among different lactation stages and presented regional differences. Associations of carotenoid contents with maternal education, delivery mode, and present body mass index were found in multivariate analyses. These results suggested that lactation stage, region, and socio-economic and obstetric factors were associated with human milk concentrations of carotenoids and tocopherols in healthy Chinese mothers.