Fourth Nordic Metabolomics Conference in Turku 26-28 August
Photo: Maaria Kortesniemi
Assistant professor Maaria Kortesniemi provided a talk at the 4th Nordic Metabolomics Conference in Turku regarding important components in colostrum and mature human milk. In her research, the correlation between maternal stress and human milk metabolome was studied for the first time using targeted NMR metabolomics. The effects of lactation stage were also studied with Chinese milk samples. Human milk was collected in cohort studies, provided from Finland (FinnBrain Birth Cohort, University of Turku) and China (Peking University). The human milk metabolome was shown to be associated with symptoms of maternal psychological distress and milk cortisol differently. For instance, positive association was found with distress and milk short-chain fatty acids, which may help fuel the development of the infant brain.