Breast Milk and COVID-19: From Conventional Data to “Omics” Technologies to Investigate Changes Occurring in SARS-CoV-2 Positive Mothers

Flaminia Bardanzellu, Melania Puddu and Vassilios Fanos
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Flaminia Bardanzellu: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Department of Surgical Sciences, AOU and University of Cagliari, SS 554 km 4500, 09042 Monserrato, Italy
Melania Puddu: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Department of Surgical Sciences, AOU and University of Cagliari, SS 554 km 4500, 09042 Monserrato, Italy
Vassilios Fanos: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Department of Surgical Sciences, AOU and University of Cagliari, SS 554 km 4500, 09042 Monserrato, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: In this context of COVID-19 pandemic, great interest has been aroused by the potential maternal transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by transplacental route, during delivery, and, subsequently, through breastfeeding. Some open questions still remain, especially regarding the possibility of finding viable SARS-CoV-2 in breast milk (BM), although this is not considered a worrying route of transmission. However, in BM, it was pointed out the presence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and other bioactive components that could protect the infant from infection. The aim of our narrative review is to report and discuss the available literature on the detection of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in BM of COVID-19 positive mothers, and we discussed the unique existing study investigating BM of SARS-CoV-2 positive mothers through metabolomics, and the evidence regarding microbiomics BM variation in COVID-19. Moreover, we tried to correlate metabolomics and microbiomics findings in BM of positive mothers with potential effects on breastfed infants metabolism and health. To our knowledge, this is the first review summarizing the current knowledge on SARS-CoV-2 effects on BM, resuming both “conventional data” (antibodies) and “omics technologies” (metabolomics and microbiomics).

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-COV-2; antibodies; innate immunity; metabolomics; microbiomics; breast milk; breastfeeding (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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