Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

A MALDI-TOF MS Approach for Mammalian, Human, and Formula Milks’ Profiling

Laura Di Francesco
,
Francesco Di Girolamo
,
Maurizio Mennini
,
Andrea Masotti
ORCID logo ,
Guglielmo Salvatori
,
Fabrizio Signore
,
Emanuela Pietrantoni
,
Margherita Scapaticci
,
Isabella Lante
,
Bianca Maria Goffredo
,
Oscar Mazzina
,
Ahmed Ibrahim Elbousify
,
Paola Roncada
,
Andrea Dotta
,
Alessandro Fiocchi
,
Lorenza Putignani
* ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 19 August 2018 / Approved: 20 August 2018 / Online: 20 August 2018 (10:28:59 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Di Francesco, L.; Di Girolamo, F.; Mennini, M.; Masotti, A.; Salvatori, G.; Rigon, G.; Signore, F.; Pietrantoni, E.; Scapaticci, M.; Lante, I.; Goffredo, B.M.; Mazzina, O.; Elbousify, A.I.; Roncada, P.; Dotta, A.; Fiocchi, A.; Putignani, L. A MALDI-TOF MS Approach for Mammalian, Human, and Formula Milks’ Profiling. Nutrients 2018, 10, 1238. Di Francesco, L.; Di Girolamo, F.; Mennini, M.; Masotti, A.; Salvatori, G.; Rigon, G.; Signore, F.; Pietrantoni, E.; Scapaticci, M.; Lante, I.; Goffredo, B.M.; Mazzina, O.; Elbousify, A.I.; Roncada, P.; Dotta, A.; Fiocchi, A.; Putignani, L. A MALDI-TOF MS Approach for Mammalian, Human, and Formula Milks’ Profiling. Nutrients 2018, 10, 1238.

Abstract

Human milk composition is dynamic and substitute formulae are intended to mimic its protein content. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potentiality of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) followed by multivariate data analyses as a tool to analyze peptide profiling of mammalian, human and formula milks. Breast milk samples from women at different lactation stages (2 (n = 5), 30 (n = 6), 60 (n = 5), and 90 (n = 4) days postpartum), and milk from donkeys (n = 4), cows (n = 4), buffaloes (n = 7), goats (n = 4), ewes (n = 5), and camels (n = 2) were collected. Different brands (n = 4) of infant formulae were also analyzed. Protein content (<30 kDa) was analyzed by MS and data were exported for statistical elaborations. Mass spectra for each milk closely clustered together, whereas different milk samples resulted well separated. Human samples formed a cluster in which colostrum constituted a well-defined subcluster. None of the milk formulae correlated with animal or human milk, although specifically characterized and well correlated each other. These findings propose MALDI-TOF MS milk profiling as an analytical tool to discriminate, in a blinded way, different milk types. As each formula has a distinct specificity, shifting a baby from one to another formula implies a specific proteomic exposure. These profiles may assist in milk proteomics for easiness of use and low cost consuming, suggesting that the MALDI-TOF MS pipelines may result useful for milk adulteration assessment but also for the characterization of banked milk specimens in paediatric clinical settings.

Keywords

infant nutrition; breast milk; mammalian milk; formula milk; protein similarity profiling; MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

Subject

Medicine and Pharmacology, Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Download PDF

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0
Metrics 0
Get PDF Cite Share 0
Bookmark BibSonomy Mendeley Reddit Delicious
×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.