MINI REVIEW article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Metabolism
This article is part of the Research TopicHuman Milk, Nutrition and Infant Development, Volume IIView all 17 articles
Exploring Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs): Mechanisms Linking Gut Function to Cognitive Development in Human and Pig Physiology
Provisionally accepted
- 1Gulbali Institute, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Australia
- 2Charles Sturt University Faculty of Science and Health, Wagga Wagga, Australia
- 3Nutrition Research Institute, Junlebao Dairy Group Co., Ltd, Shijiazhuang, China
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Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are emerging as key modulators of host physiology, with growing evidence supporting their role in shaping gut microbial communities and influencing neurocognitive outcomes. This review critically examines the impact of HMOs on gut health and behavioural responses, focusing on the complex relationship between HMOs and host physiology in both human and pigs. Given their anatomical, physiological, and microbiome similarities to humans, pigs serve as a valuable translational model for investigating the functional roles of HMOs. We summarize experimental methodologies employed in HMO research and highlight findings that demonstrate HMO-induced alterations in microbial diversity, gut integrity, and cognitive performance. Potential mechanisms of action, including gut–brain axis signaling, immune modulation, and microbial metabolite production, are explored. This review concludes by identifying current knowledge gaps and proposing future research directions aimed at elucidating HMO structure–function relationships, with implications for advancing both human nutrition and animal health.
Keywords: Human oligosaccharides, gut microbiome, Cognitive Function, Pig physiology, behavioural outcomes
Received: 08 Sep 2025; Accepted: 28 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 LI, Gunn, Zheng, Ma, Shen and Wang. 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: Bing Wang, biwang@csu.edu.au
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