Use of oligosaccharide compositions to enhance weight gain
Provided herein are compositions and methods related to use of oligosaccharides, such as 2′-fucosyllactose, for increasing weight gain in a subject. In some aspects the compositions and methods are for use in infants, such as premature infants or infants having intestinal failure.
1. A method of increasing weight gain in a subject, the method comprising:
administering to a subject in need thereof an effective amount of a synthetic composition comprising an oligosaccharide and/or a glycoconjugate containing the oligosaccharide, wherein the oligosaccharide is an α1,2 fucosylated oligosaccharide, and wherein the subject is an infant with short bowel syndrome.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the synthetic composition comprises the α1,2 fucosylated oligosaccharide and/or the glycoconjugate containing the α1,2 fucosylated oligosaccharide as its sole source of fucosylated oligosaccharides.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subject having intestinal failure is selected from the group consisting of a premature human infant, a human subject who has undergone a surgery, and a human subject who is suffering from undernutrition.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the subject is a premature human infant having a gestational age of less than 34 weeks.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the premature human infant has a weight-for-age Z-score of less than −2.0.
6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the infant has undergone a surgery, which is an intestinal surgery or a bone marrow transplantation.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the synthetic composition is administered to the subject for a period of at least 1 month.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the α1,2 fucosylated oligosaccharide is selected from the group consisting of:
(a) 2′-fucosyllactose (2′FL);
(b) lacto-N-fucopentaose I (LNF-I);
(c) lacto-N-difucohexaose I (LDFH-I);
(d) lactodifucotetraose (LDFT), and
(e) a variant of (a)-(d), which is identical to (a)-(d) except that the reducing end is N-acetylglucosamine instead of glucose.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the glycoconjugate, the oligosaccharide is conjugated with a carbohydrate, a lipid, a nucleic acid, a protein or a peptide.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the oligosaccharide is synthesized chemically, purified from milk, or produced in a microorganism.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the synthetic composition is an infant formula.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subject is FUT2 negative.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the synthetic composition is free of a prebiotic and a probiotic.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the subject is a premature human infant.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the subject having intestinal failure is a premature human infant having a gestational age of less than 34 weeks.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the infant has undergone a surgery, which is an intestinal surgery or a bone marrow transplantation.
17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the α1,2 fucosylated oligosaccharide is selected from the group consisting of:
(a) 2′-fucosyllactose (2′FL);
(b) lacto-N-fucopentaose I (LNF-I);
(c) lacto-N-difucohexaose I (LDFH-I);
(d) lactodifucotetraose (LDFT), and
(e) a variant of (a)-(d), which is identical to (a)-(d) except that the reducing end is N-acetylglucosamine instead of glucose.
18. The method of claim 13 , wherein the oligosaccharide is synthesized chemically, purified from milk, or produced in a microorganism.