PhD defence: Maternal inflammation, human milk biomarkers and associations with infant outcomes

Sophie Hilario Christensen

PhD thesis

Studies from the present PhD investigate biomarkers of inflammation and metabolic function in mothers during pregnancy and the lactation period. These biomarkers are further related to outcomes in the offspring. Data were collected for the Mothers, Infants and Lactation Quality (MILQ) Study, which is a multi-center cohort study with the aim of developing reference values for micro- and macronutrient concentrations in human milk throughout lactation. Data were collected in Bangladesh, Brazil, Denmark and The Gambia from healthy mother-infant dyads.

Findings from the included papers suggest that, even in mothers without obesity, maternal adiposity may affect concentrations of appetite-regulating hormones in human milk. The pathway by which the hormones arrive in the milk is partly mediated through the maternal circulation and to a higher degree for mothers with overweight compared to normalweight .

Furthermore, plasma lipid concentrations and metabolic alterations during pregnancy may influence foetal growth possibly through the placenta.

Finally, cytokines in human milk differed among the four populations in the MILQ study, which could reflect different environmental exposures reflected in human milk composition.

Download Table of contents; Publications; Abstract; Resumé (Danish abstract).

2023, 205 pages.

Time

13 October 2023, 13:00

Place

Festauditoriet, Bülowsvej 17, 1870 Frederiksberg

Opponents 

Professor Inge Tetens (chair), Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Professor and Senior Consultant Physician Magnus Dömellof, Department of Clinical Sciences, Umeå University, Sweden.

Clinical Professor and Chief Physician Gitte Zachariassen, Department of Clinical Research, SDU and Hans Christian Andersen Children’s Hospital, Odense University Hospital, Denmark.

Main supervisor

Professor Christian Mølgaard, Department of Nutrition, Exercise, and Sports, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Co-supervisor

Professor Emeritus Kim F Michaelsen, Department of Nutrition, Exercise, and Sports, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Professor Hanne Frøkiær, Department of Veterinary and Animal Science, University of Copenhagen.

The thesis is available for inspection at the library, Nørre Allé 51, DK-2200 Copenhagen N.