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Research Project: Impact of Maternal Influence and Early Dietary Factors on Child Growth, Development, and Metabolic Health

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Title: The role of human breast milk extracellular vesicles in child health and disease: A scoping review

Author
item O’REILLY, DANIEL - University College Dublin
item DORODNYKH, DENIS - Department Of Agriculture, Food, And The Marine
item AVDEENKO, NINA - First Moscow State Medical University
item NEKLIUDOV, NIKITA - First Moscow State Medical University
item GARSSEN, JOHAN - Utrecht University
item ELOLIMY, AHMED - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item PETROU, LOUKIA - Imperial College
item SIMPSON, MELANIE RAE - Norwegian University
item YERUVA, LAXMI - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item MUNBLIT, DANIEL - First Moscow State Medical University

Submitted to: Advances in Nutrition
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/14/2020
Publication Date: 8/24/2020
Citation: O'Reilly, D., Dorodnykh, D., Avdeenko, N.V., Nekliudov, N.A., Garssen, J., Elolimy, A., Petrou, L., Simpson, M., Yeruva, L., Munblit, D. 2020. The role of human breast milk extracellular vesicles in child health and disease: A scoping review. Advances in Nutrition. 12(1):59-70. https://doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmaa094.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmaa094

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Human breast milk (HM) contains multiple bioactive substances determining its impact on children's health. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are a heterogeneous group of secreted nanoparticles that are present in HM and may be partially responsible for its beneficial effects. However, the precise roles and content of EVs in HM remain largely unknown. How the existing data in HM conforms to the minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles (MISEV) guidelines is also important to assess. The MISEV guidelines give guidance on how research on EVs should be approached to ensure that studies can be replicated and genuinely reflect the bioactivity of EVs as opposed to other components in the biofluid of interest. To examine this, we performed a short narrative review on the literature surrounding animal milk EVs to contextualize where research. We then performed a scoping review of MEDLINE and Embase databases and identified 424 non-duplicate citations with 19 original studies included. A variety of research methods were utilized involving both bench based and translational methods and examining different EV contents including RNA, proteins and glycopeptides. The reviewed research was also heterogeneous in the health outcomes of interest including allergy and atopy, necrotizing enterocolitis and human immunodeficiency virus. Whilst some promising results have been demonstrated to date, heterogeneity in outcomes of interest and methodological limitations of the field make comparison between studies or further translational work problematic. To date no studies have examined normative values of HM EVs in a large, diverse population including a range of timings (hind- versus foremilk), stages (colostrum versus mature milk) and infant ages (preterm versus term) which makes extrapolation from bench or "basic" research impossible. There are no data on variations in HM EV content across populations. Future research should focus on addressing the current inadequacies in the literature and utilize MISEV guidelines to inform study design. Other potential research area identified from the literature include glycosomics which have been largely ignored in HM EV literature to date.