The Metabolomic Analysis of Human Milk Offers Unique Insights into Potential Child Health Benefits.

The metabolite profile of human milk varies among other factors according to lactation stage, gestation at birth, and maternal genes, diet and disease state. Few studies investigate how these variations impact infant growth and development. Several time-related factors affecting human milk metabolome are potentially ubiquitous among mothers, although maternal-related factors are heavily confounded, which complicates studies of metabolite abundancies and variabilities and further possibilities of observing cause and effect in infants.