Early life nutrition ingredients: phospholipid and milk fat globules

Supporting infant cognitive development and gastrointestinal health

Human milk is a complex and unique source of nutrition made specifically for the needs of the developing infant. Observational studies show that early nutrition influences both short and long term health, with formula fed infants having higher risk of being overweight, higher incidence of infections during the first year and lower cognitive scores. Understanding and identifying essential components from human milk is therefore vital to developing the best nutritional strategy for formula fed infants in order to close the functional gap between human milk and infant formulas.

One of the main compositional gaps is found in the fat used for infant formula production. Since the middle of the twentieth century, milk fat has progressively been replaced by vegetable oils, yet ideally both fat sources should be present. As a consequence, standard infant formulas now have either low concentrations of, or completely lack, the biologically important building blocks that are present in dairy fat such as Milk Fat Globule Membrane (MFGM).

Milk fat globules are surrounded by a double-layered phospholipid membrane comprising specific membrane proteins. These phospholipids and protein components are present in much lower concentrations in bovine milk than in human milk, where they perform several roles in infant nutrition and development.

Figure 1: Milk Fat Globule (left) and zoom into the Milk Fat Globule Membrane layers (right)

At Arla Foods Ingredients we have developed Lacprodan^® MFGM-10 for infant nutrition with a unique protein and lipid profile including compounds such as lactoferrin, IgG, sialic acid, phospholipids and gangliosides.

Phospholipids and gangliosides are important components in neuronal and cognitive development. By adding Lacprodan^® MFGM-10, to an infant formula it will be possible to get closer to the phospholipid profile found in human milk. A clinical study has shown that an infant formula supplemented with Lacprodan^® MFGM-10 results in significantly improved cognitive development among formula-fed infants at year one compared to a standard formula. Infants receiving formula supplemented with Lacprodan^® MFGM-10 demonstrated similar cognitive performance as the breastfed infants. This demonstrates that Lacprodan^® MFGM-10 supplementation to infant formula narrows the gap in cognitive development between breastfed and formula fed infants.

Furthermore, the unique composition of Lacprodan^® MFGM-10 is also behind antiviral and antibacterial mechanisms that combat gut-derived infections. A clinical study has shown that a complementary food enriched with Lacprodan^® MFGM-10 significantly reduced prevalence of diarrhoea episodes in infants from 6 months of age, and this protection was non-specific with regard to the causative pathogens. Furthermore, Lacprodan^® MFGM-10 reduced the episodes of bloody diarrhoea after adjustment for co-variants. Finally, supplementation of an infant formula with Lacprodan^® MFGM-10 has also shown to reduce the risk of acute otitis media, decrease antipyretics use in formula-fed infants, and has immune-modulatory effects on humoral response against pneumococcus vaccine.

Benefits associated with Lacprodan^® MFGM-10

Clinically demonstrated to support brain development
Reduce incidence and severity of diarrhoea episodes
Supports intestinal maturation and a healthy microbiota
Reduce the risk of acute otitis media, decrease antipyretics use, and has immune-modulatory effects

Premium Quality by Design: Lacprodan^® Premium MFGM-10
Lacprodan^® Premium MFGM-10 is specially designed for dry-blended infant formula. It is produced to the highest food safety standards and is free from Cronobacter sakazakii, a bacterium that can cause serious infections in infants. Use it to reduce production costs without compromising safety or quality. You can also improve the flexibility of your production by producing more recipes from one base powder.
Read more about our ingredients for dry-blending here.

MFGM video

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Watch the video to better understand what is MFGM, and how it can support closing the functional and compositional gap between infant formula and breast milk.

Award

Lacprodan^® MFGM-10 winner of 2020 NutraIngredients Awards for “Ingredient of the Year'' within the Infant Nutrition category.

Leading image: Artistic interpretation of milk fat globule membrane.

Feeding infants formula with probiotics or milk fat globule membrane: a double-blind, randomized controlled trial

Fecal microbiome and metabolome of infants fed bovine MFGM supplemented formula or standard formula with breast-fed infants as reference: a randomized controlled trial

Metabolic phenotype of breast-fed infants, and infants fed standard formula or bovine MFGM supplemented formula: a randomized controlled trial

Effects of milk fat globule membrane and its various components on neurologic development in a postnatal growth restriction rat model

The enduring effects of early-life stress on the microbiota-gut-brain axis are buffered by dietary supplementation with milk fat globule membrane and a prebiotic blend

Effect of bovine milk fat globule membranes as a complementary food on the serum metabolome and immune markers of 6-11-month-old Peruvian infants

Serum, plasma and erythrocyte membrane lipidomes in infants fed formula supplemented with bovine milk fat globule membranes

The role of milk fat globule membranes in behavior and cognitive function using a suckling rat pup supplementation model

Milk Fat Globule Membrane Supplementation in Formula-fed Rat Pups Improves Reflex Development and May Alter Brain Lipid Composition

Early life diets with prebiotics and bioactive milk fractions attenuate the impact of stress on learned helplessness behaviours and alter gene expression within neural circuits important for stress resistance

Milk Fat Globule Membrane Inhibits NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation and Enhances Intestinal Barrier Function in a Rat Model of Short Bowel

Milk Fat Globule Membrane Attenuates High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity by Inhibiting Adipogenesis and Increasing Uncoupling Protein 1 Expression in White Adipose Tissue of Mice

Mining Milk for Factors which Increase the adherence of Bifidobacterium longum subsp. Infantis to Intestinal Cells

Milk fat globule membrane supplementation modulates the gut microbiota and attenuates metabolic endotoxemia in high-fat diet-fed mice

Milk Fat Globule Membrane Supplementation in Formula Modulates the Neonatal Gut Microbiome and Normalizes Intestinal Development

Dietary Prebiotics and Bioactive Milk Fractions Improve NREM Sleep, Enhance REM Sleep Rebound and Attenuate the Stress-Induced Decrease in Diurnal Temperature and Gut Microbial Alpha Diversity

Oral Microbiota in Infants Fed a Formula Supplemented with Bovine Milk Fat Globule Membranes - A Randomized Controlled Trial

Prebiotics and Bioactive Milk Fractions Affect Gut Development, Microbiota, and Neurotransmitter Expression in Piglets

Dietary Prebiotics, Milk Fat Globule Membrane, and Lactoferrin Affects Structural Neurodevelopment in the Young Piglet

Early life diet containing prebiotics and bioactive whey protein fractions increased dendritic spine density of rat hippocampal neurons

Infections in infants fed formula supplemented with bovine milk fat globule membranes

Neurodevelopment, nutrition, and growth until 12 mo of age in infants fed a low-energy, low-protein formula supplemented with bovine milk fat globule membranes: a randomized controlled trial.

Safety and tolerance evaluation of milk fat globule membrane-enriched infant formulas: a randomized controlled multicenter non-inferiority trial in healthy term infants

Cardiovascular risk markers until 12 mo of age in infants fed a formula supplemented with bovine milk fat globule membranes

Efficacy of an MFGM-enriched complementary food in diarrhea, anemia, and micronutrient status in infants