Breastmilk Sugars : Scientists have shown that breastfeeding sugars can protect newborns from illness before birth. They made significant progress in their research. The August 9 ACS Central Science study found that these carbohydrates can prevent a normal infection in mouse and human cells during pregnancy. This may avoid difficulties or premature births without antibiotics.
Breastfeeding has long been praised for its health benefits to moms and babies. Breastfeeding provides essential nutrients for baby growth. It also protects the mother and child from illness.
Most babies should eat breast milk, according to the CDC. Moms with it are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and some cancers.
The CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity director, Ruth Petersen, said nursing is the greatest way to feed babies medically. It has several health benefits. She stated we must do more to make breastfeeding spaces comfortable and helpful. Group B streptococcus (GBS) is a common pathogen that can harm newborns. Untreated GBS infections can cause premature birth and pneumonia. Most treatments use antibiotics, which can accidentally make strains more resistant.
However, human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are antibiotics in breast milk. Steven Townsend, Jennifer Gaddy, and their team examined HMO antibiotics. They found that these compounds inhibit GBS development in reproductive cells.
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Scientists must understand how they work in different organs and creatures before using sugar molecules to improve antibiotics or develop novel treatments.
The research team then examined HMOs in GBS infections in human tissues and pregnant mice. They used fetal tissue produced outside the body and a vaginal organ model to study how HMOs protect GBS-affected human tissue.
A blend of HMOs that resembled breast milk sugar stopped bacteria from forming colonies. After then, investigators tried this HMO mixture on GBS-pregnant mice.
The mice that received treatment had practically normal inflammation levels, fewer germs in reproductive organs, and no premature births, protective sac breaks, or mother deaths.
These outstanding findings show that HMOs can act as antibiotics without additional drugs. Using these carbohydrates to fight GBS infection could lead to better pregnancies and a new way of caring for pregnant women.
