Concentration and composition of odd-chain fatty acids in phospholipids and triacylglycerols in Chinese human milk throughout lactation

Abstract

Human milk represents the gold standard for infant nutrition, with approximately 50% of the energy in human milk derived from lipids. Odd-chain fatty acids (OCFAs) have been recognized as a category of bioactive milk fatty acids in recent research; however, limited data exist on OCFAs in human milk. This study collected human milk samples spanning the postpartum period from 0 to 400 days. Phospholipids containing OCFAs (PL-OCFAs) were determined in 486 human milk samples using hydrophilic liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-triquadrupole-mass spectrometry. Triacylglycerols containing OCFAs (TAG-OCFAs) were analyzed in 296 human milk samples using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The average total concentration of PL-OCFA ranged from 30.89 ± 14.27 mg L⁻¹ to 93.48 ± 36.55 mg L⁻¹ during lactation, and the average total TAG-OCFA content ranged from 103.1 ± 147.15 mg L⁻¹ to 965.41 ± 651.67 mg L⁻¹. Despite the lower absolute concentration of PL-OCFA, its relative concentration (8.75%–11.75%) was significantly higher than that of TAG-OCFA (0.37%–1.85%) throughout lactation. PC-OCFA, SM-OCFA and PE-OCFA are major sub-classes of PL-OCFA. Furthermore, C17:0 was the major chain length in both PL-OCFA and TAG-OCFA, followed by C15:0. C17:1 was characteristic of TAG-OCFA, while long-chain fatty acids C19:0, C21:0 and C23:0 were characteristic of PL-OCFA. Our findings highlighted the importance of bioactive lipids in human milk, suggesting that OCFAs could be targeted in future studies in relation to the health and development of infants.