Perfil transcriptômico dinâmico do leite materno maduro e os impactos bioquímicos no desenvolvimento infantil: uma análise in sílico

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Breast milk is a mammary glands product of high complexity and specificity, that has a direct impact on the development of human beings. However, despite its significant role, there is still limited information available, especially when it comes to mature milk where little has been discussed about its composition over the years. Among various components present in milk, emerging studies demonstrate that the presence of RNAs in milk is a key component to be evaluated. Therefore, this study performed an analysis based on available public databases of the RNA present in mature milk samples at different periods of time, to define its profile and its variations over time. The hypothesis is that mature breast milk has specific potentialities, according to the degree of maturation that justifies continued breastfeeding. METHODOLOGY: Public transcriptome data from GEODATASET, with accession codes GSE192543 and GSE75726, were analyzed. Available samples were examined using bioinformatics tools through the Galaxy platform. Subsequently, filtering was performed based on the ratio between expression level by Log Fold Change and the p-value <0.05, to identify differentially expressed RNAs between the mature breast milk samples of 01, 02, 04 and 06 months. RESULTS: After data processing, it was possible to find a dynamic gene regulation of the transcripts: being negative in the first months, but positive from the sixth month of lactation; indicating that mature milk is heterogeneous. The presence of these genes, proteins, enzymes and cellular elements in mature breast milk allows the promotion of additional support to the neural, metabolic and immunological development of the still immature infant organism; and elucidates the correlational statistics of health and disease states with the positive practice of breastfeeding. CONCLUSIONS: The components found in mature breast milk samples change to support the diverse biological needs of the infant, providing a responsive cellular environment of increasing complexity. Further studies are necessary to continue the analysis of maternal milk dynamics and its properties after 6 months so that we can establish its long-term behavior.