ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1566376
This article is part of the Research TopicHuman Milk, Nutrition and Infant Development, Volume IIView all 11 articles
The influence of human milk composition and its microbiome on the gut microecology and early growth and development of preterm infants (the YI study): Protocol Design and Cohort Profile
Provisionally accepted
Xiaoqin Luo1,2*
Xinyue Wang1
Yan Feng3Yilan Li1Yuluyuan Tian1
Simin Zhang1
Jinglin Li1Jiahui Zhang1Feng Liu1Jiahe Zhou1
Ting Li4,5
Sufang Duan4Ignatius Man-Yau Szeto4,6Li Su3- 1Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
- 2Key Laboratory for Disease Prevention and Control and Health Promotion of Shaanxi Province, Xi'an, China
- 3Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China
- 4Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group (China), Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
- 5Inner Mongolia Dairy Technology Research Institute Co. Ltd, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
- 6Nutrition and Health Research Center, National Center of Technology Innovation for Dairy, Hohhot, China
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Breastfeeding can reduce the risk of serious illness in preterm infants. However, the influence of human milk on the gut microecology and early development of preterm infants remains unclear. The YI study is a prospective cohort study conducted in China, focusing on breast milk composition, infant gut microecology and health from a mother-breastmilk-preterm infant triad perspective. From January 2023 to May 2024, 50 mother-term infant dyads and 35 mother-preterm infant dyads were enrolled and followed up at six visits: v1 (0-7 days), v2 (8-14 days), v3 (1 month), v4 (2 months), v5 (4 months) and v6 (6 months). Questionnaires (including birth medical records, environment, feeding practices and illnesses status) and anthropometric measurements were collected at all visits. Biospecimens included paired samples of breast milk and feces were obtained at each visit, and comprehensively analyzed by multi-omics techniques. We also collected heel blood at birth to examine immune status and saliva at the v6 visit to explore the role of its constituents in dietary behaviors. The completion rate up to V6 was 82.9% in the Preterm Group and 94% in the Term Group. All samples were collected within the predefined visit windows, with a total of 452 breast milk, 465 infant feces, 227 maternal feces, 49 heel blood and 98 saliva. Through ultra-early, multi-temporal, multi-sample collection, combined with multi-omics technologies, the YI study will provide an opportunity to explore the dynamic association of human milk as a complex biological system with gut microecology and health in preterm infants in depth.
Keywords: preterm infants, human milk, Gut microecology, Early life health, Systems Biology
Received: 24 Jan 2025; Accepted: 14 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Luo, Wang, Feng, Li, Tian, Zhang, Li, Zhang, Liu, Zhou, Li, Duan, Szeto and Su. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiaoqin Luo, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
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