Human milk sphingomyelin: Function, metabolism, composition and mimicking

Human milk, which contains various nutrients, is the “gold standard” for infant nutrition. Healthy human milk meets all the nutritional needs of early infant development. Polar lipids mainly exist in the milk fat globule membrane, accounting for approximately 1–2% of human milk lipids; sphingomyelin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Food chemistry 2024-07, Vol.447, p.138991-138991, Article 138991
Main Authors: Yuan, Yuying, Zhao, Junying, Liu, Qian, Liu, Yan, Tian, Xiaoyan, Qiao, Weicang, Zhao, Yanyan, Liu, Yanpin, Chen, Lijun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Child
Diet
Functions
Human milk
Humans
Infant
Infant formula
Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena
Metabolism
Milk, Human
Nutritional Status
Sphingomyelin
Sphingomyelins
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Summary:Human milk, which contains various nutrients, is the “gold standard” for infant nutrition. Healthy human milk meets all the nutritional needs of early infant development. Polar lipids mainly exist in the milk fat globule membrane, accounting for approximately 1–2% of human milk lipids; sphingomyelin (SM) accounts for approximately 21–24% of polar lipids. SM plays an important role in promoting the development of the brain and nervous system, regulating intestinal flora, and improving skin barriers. Though SM could be synthesized de novo, SM nutrition from dietary is also important for infants. The content and composition of SM in human milk has been reported, however, the molecular mechanisms of nutritional functions of SM for infants required further research. This review summarizes the functional mechanisms, metabolic pathways, and compositional, influencing factors, and mimicking of SM in human milk, and highlights the challenges of improving maternal and infant early/long-term nutrition. •Sphingomyelin (SM), main polar lipid in human milk, often forms lipid raft micro-domain.•SM are important for nervous system, intestinal flora, lipids metabolism, and skin barrier.•SM synthesize de novo could not meet infant requirement, exogenous supplementation is necessary.•SM content was influenced by maternal lactation stage (“U-shaped” changes), age, diet, and region.•The main molecular species in human milk are SM 40:1;2, SM 42:2;2 and SM 38:1;2.
ISSN:0308-8146
1873-7072
DOI:10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.138991