The Human Milk Metabolome: A Scoping Literature Review

Background: Human milk is a complex source of nutrition and other bioactives that protects infants from disease, holding a lifetime of beneficial effects. The field of metabolomics provides a robust platform through which we can better understand human milk at a level rarely examined. Research Aim: To Identify, describe, synthesize, and critically analyze the literature within the past 5 years related to the human milk metabolome. Methods: We conducted a scoping literature review and quality analysis of the recent science reflecting untargeted metabolomic approaches to examining human milk. We searched six databases using the terms “breast milk,” “metabolome,” “metabolite,” and “human milk,” Out of more than 1,069 abstracts, we screened and identified 22 articles that met our inclusion criteria. Results: We extracted data related to the study author, geographic location, research design, analyses, platform used, and results. We also extracted data related to human milk research activities, including collection protocol, infant/maternal considerations, and time. Selected studies focused on a variety of phenotypes, including maternal and infant disease. Investigators used varying approaches to evaluate the metabolome, and differing milk collection protocols were observed. Conclusion: The human milk metabolome is informed by many factors—which may contribute to infant health outcomes—that have resulted in disparate milk metabolomic profiles. Standardized milk collection and storage procedures should be implemented to minimize degradation. Investigators may use our findings to develop research questions that test a targeted metabolomic approach.