The human milk oligosaccharide disialyllacto-N-tetraose prevents necrotising enterocolitis in neonatal rats

Abstract

HMO reduce NEC in neonatal rats and the effects are highly structure specific. If these results translate to NEC in humans, DSLNT could be used to prevent or treat NEC in formula-fed infants, and its concentration in the mother's milk could serve as a biomarker to identify breast-fed infants at risk of developing this disorder.