Prenatal and postnatal maternal psychological distress and the metabolomic profile of human milk

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dc.contributor.authorRyan, Niamh
dc.contributor.authorSundekilde, Ulrik K.
dc.contributor.authorDickens, Alex M.
dc.contributor.authorKalant, Henna-Maria
dc.contributor.authorLeahy-Warren, Patricia
dc.contributor.authorPhilpott, Lloyd Frank
dc.contributor.authorMulcahy, Helen
dc.contributor.authorLamichhane, Santosh
dc.contributor.authorIsokääntä, Heidi
dc.contributor.authorPerasto, Laura
dc.contributor.authorTarro, Saija
dc.contributor.authorKarlsson, Hasse
dc.contributor.authorKarlsson, Linnea
dc.contributor.authorO’Mahony, Siobhain M.
dc.contributor.authorAatsinki, Anna-Katariina
dc.contributor.funderWaterloo Foundation
dc.contributor.funderResearch Council of Finland
dc.contributor.funderSigne and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation
dc.contributor.funderJalmari and Rauha Ahokas Foundation
dc.contributor.funderFinnish Medical Foundation
dc.contributor.funderFinnish Cultural Foundation
dc.date.accessioned2026-05-26T09:00:01Z
dc.date.available2026-05-26T09:00:01Z
dc.date.issued2026-05-07
dc.description.abstractBackground: Human milk is the gold standard of infant nutrition, providing nutrients and bioactive metabolites that shape infant immune, cognitive, and metabolic development. Maternal psychological distress, including stress, anxiety, and depression, is prevalent during the perinatal period and may influence milk composition. Emerging evidence suggests that these alter metabolite classes, with potential long-term consequences for infant health. Objectives: This study aims to identify whether maternal stress, depressive, and anxiety symptoms are associated with differential metabolomic signatures in human milk from 2.5 to 24 mo postpartum. Methods: Human milk samples were collected longitudinally at multiple postpartum time points from 424 mothers in the FinnBrain Birth Cohort study, yielding 718 samples. Human milk metabolite concentrations were quantified using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance–based metabolomics. Maternal depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms were assessed using validated self-report scales prenatally and postnatally. Simple linear regression and linear mixed models examined associations between maternal symptom scores and human milk metabolite concentrations across lactation (false discovery rate <0.05). Results: Human milk oligosaccharides such as Lacto-N-tetraose (LNT), lacto-N-fucopentaose I (LNFP I), and lacto-N-difucohexaose I/II (LNDFH I/II) showed negative associations with depressive and stress symptoms, whereas 3′-fucosyllactose (3′FL), 3′-sialyllactose (3′SL), and lacto-N-neotetraose (LNnT) were positively linked, particularly with prenatal symptoms.. Among amino acids, threonine concentrations declined with higher maternal symptom scores, whereas glutamate, glutamine, and taurine exhibited time-dependent associations across lactation. Succinate and hippurate showed positive associations with prenatal maternal symptom scores that shifted to negative associations later in lactation, whereas lactose and caprylate were negatively associated with postnatal symptoms. Conclusions: Both prenatal and postnatal maternal distress are associated with human milk metabolites. Human milk may buffer infants from some effects of maternal psychological distress because increases in key metabolites suggest potential compensatory roles in immune modulation and healthy gut microbiota. However, reductions in metabolites with established prebiotic and immune regulatory functions reinforce the importance of interventions that support maternal mental health during the perinatal period.en
dc.description.sponsorshipWaterloo Foundation, Research Council of Finland (253270, 134950, 308176, 264363, 253270), Finnish State Grants for Clinical Research (ERVA), Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation, Jalmari and Rauha Ahokas Foundation, Finnish Medical Foundation, Finnish Cultural Foundation have supported this study.
dc.description.versionPublished Version
dc.format.extent16
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.articleid101531
dc.identifier.authororcidRyan, Niamh
dc.identifier.authororcidSundekilde, Ulrik K.
dc.identifier.authororcidDickens, Alex M.
dc.identifier.authororcidKalant, Henna-Maria
dc.identifier.authororcidLeahy-Warren, Patricia§0000-0002-4443-4471
dc.identifier.authororcidPhilpott, Lloyd Frank§0000-0002-5600-2991
dc.identifier.authororcidMulcahy, Helen§0000-0002-8470-8625
dc.identifier.authororcidLamichhane, Santosh
dc.identifier.authororcidIsokääntä, Heidi
dc.identifier.authororcidPerasto, Laura
dc.identifier.authororcidTarro, Saija
dc.identifier.authororcidKarlsson, Hasse
dc.identifier.authororcidKarlsson, Linnea
dc.identifier.authororcidO’Mahony, Siobhain M.
dc.identifier.authororcidAatsinki, Anna-Katariina
dc.identifier.citationRyan, N, Sundekilde, U K, Dickens, A M, Kalant, H-M, Leahy-Warren, P, Philpott, L F, Mulcahy, H, Lamichhane, S, Isokääntä, H, Perasto, L, Tarro, S, Karlsson, H, Karlsson, L, O’Mahony, S M & Aatsinki, A-K 2026, 'Prenatal and postnatal maternal psychological distress and the metabolomic profile of human milk', Journal of Nutrition, vol. 156, no. 6, 101531, pp. 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2026.101531, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2026.101531
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.tjnut.2026.101531
dc.identifier.endpage16
dc.identifier.issn0022-3166
dc.identifier.issued6
dc.identifier.journaltitleJournal of Nutrition
dc.identifier.otherRIS: urn:915FFB1A49024DEA34660EA5AB284E8F
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0002-5600-2991/work/215853999
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0002-4443-4471/work/215854008
dc.identifier.startpage1
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/18878
dc.identifier.volume156
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherElsevier B.V.
dc.relation.urihttps://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105037944023
dc.rights© 2026, The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American Society for Nutrition. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
dc.rights.accessrightsopen access
dc.rights.licensenameAttribution 4.0 International
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.statusPeer reviewed
dc.subjectAnxiety
dc.subjectDepression
dc.subjectHuman milk composition
dc.subjectMaternal stress
dc.subjectMetabolome
dc.subject[APCMicrobiome]
dc.subject[NursingMidwifery]
dc.titlePrenatal and postnatal maternal psychological distress and the metabolomic profile of human milken
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)
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