Device to revolutionize HMO analysis?

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are the third most abundant solid component of human milk, after lactose and lipids.

HMOs in human milk have been linked to growth, protection from infectious diarrhea and better cognitive development. In preterm infants, specific HMOs have been associated with a lower risk of developing a deadly disease called necrotizing enterocolitis.

Most human milk contains high concentrations of crucial HMOs, but the composition varies greatly between women and changes over the course of lactation. And until now, there was no quick, inexpensive way to analyze the presence and concentration of HMOs at the point of care (POC).

A trio of researchers coordinated by the Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Mother-Milk-Infant Center of Research Excellence (MOMI CORE) has just changed the game. They successfully developed a label-free, rapid, simple, low-cost analysis device which detects and quantifies specific HMOs.

See the team’s full findings in this open access article, 'Point-of-care human milk testing for maternal secretor status', published in Analytical Bioanalytical Chemistry.

The ability to test HMOs at the POC could revolutionize human milk testing, advance human milk research and improve maternal-infant health.

FLRF is a proud contributor to the MOMI Seeds pilot grants that can ignite such important research.

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