iScience· 2026Q1
Farm exposure is associated with human milk immune profile and microbiota
- 2citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Human breast milk from mothers with traditional agrarian lifestyles shows significantly higher immune protein levels and microbial diversity/richness compared to farm and non-farm mothers.
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Key points
- Traditional agrarian mothers' milk had the highest immune protein levels and microbiome diversity/richness.
- Significant differences in 23 immune proteins and microbiome diversity/richness were found between farm exposure groups.
- Gram-positive bacteria correlated with IL-23 mediated signaling events (p-adj<1.0E-05).
- Farm exposures appear to promote a more microbially-diverse and immune-rich human breast milk.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Prenatal and early life farm exposure, and breastfeeding, are associated with protection from allergic diseases. We hypothesize that farm exposure influences the human breast milk microbiome and immune proteins. The immune protein profiles and microbial communities of 152 human breast milk samples were compared among three maternal farm exposure groups (traditional agrarian, farm, and non-farm) in rural Wisconsin to identify signatures associated with farm status and atopic disease. We found significant differences between farm groups for 23 immune proteins (p-adj<0.05), microbiome diversity (p=2.2E-05), and microbiome richness (p=8.0e-06). Traditional agrarian human breast milk had the highest immune protein levels and microbiome diversity and richness, followed by farm and non-farm human breast milk. Furthermore, Gram-positive bacterial species correlated with IL-23 mediated signaling events (p-adj<1.0E-05). These data suggest that increased farm exposures promotes human breast milk that is more microbially-diverse and rich in immune-associated proteins, ultimately influencing immune development in the infant.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. iScience, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Nutrition and Dietetics
Nutrition and DieteticsNursing