Antibacterial sugar found in breast milk

Scientists have found a 'sweet' way to help babies fight group B streptococcus - a sugar found in breast milk.

A sugar in breast milk may help babies' bodies fight group B streptococcus. Photo: Istockphoto

This result was published in the journalACS Infectious Diseasesand presented at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Accordingly, the type of sugar in breast milk may help the baby's body control group B streptococcus, helping the baby limit infection during care in the first days of life.

The scientists' goal now is to identify exactly which sugars play a key role in this process, and then use that to transform them into a valuable new antibiotic.

This antibiotic is expected to solve some difficult problems in medicine such as destroying the stability of some bacteria by using existing antibiotics.

However, one of the interesting findings in the study was the variability in the effects of breast milk from different sources.

Chemist Steven Townsend from Vanderbilt University, USA and colleagues collected breast milk samples from five different women. After extracting the sugar mixture in each type of breast milk, the research team mixed them with water to achieve the same ratio as in normal breast milk.

The scientists then placed them in lab dishes with streptococcus agalactiae - a group B streptococcus.

As a result, in five samples, one particular breast milk sugar was particularly effective at blocking the bacteria from nesting and replicating. Another sample showed a moderate effect on the bacteria, while the remaining three samples had little effect.

According to scientists, each person's sugar level depends on the concentration of the enzyme glycosyltransferase - the enzyme that plays a role in forming bonds in sugar molecules, and the diversity of proteins that help make up sugar.

Each of these protein groups is made up of a specific chromosome in each person.

However, this is just the beginning of the difference. In addition to sugar, the remaining substances in breast milk also vary between mothers.

The reason for this difference is unknown, but body composition and diet and even whether a woman is nursing a boy or a girl may all play a role.

In addition, within a body, breast milk is also very diverse, changing over many months, over many days, even in just a few minutes.

For example, breast milk is often fattier for about an hour and a half after a baby has finished feeding. And the milk that a mother breastfeeds for more than seven months is very different from the first few months because it has lower levels of zinc, copper, and potassium.

According to TTO