Size distributions of human milk fat globules
Wietske Verveld (TNW-BMPI)
Johanna de Wolf (TNW-BMPI)
Chris Legtenberg (TNW-BMPI)
Tom Knop (TNW-BMPI)
Nienke Bosschaart (TNW-BMPI)
Abstract
Milk fat globules (MFGs) in human milk provide energy to nursing infants and support infant development. Accurate measurements of MFG size distributions are important to better understand MFG function and origin, as well as the influence of MFG size on milk composition analysis methods. We present a new method for determining the size distribution of milk fat globules in human milk, using 3D confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) in combination with fluorescent labeling of MFGs and tailored image analysis. Hereto, we relied on the imaging facilities of the BioImaging Centre (BIC) of the TechMed. We applied this method to evaluate MFG size distributions in ten human milk samples, and compared the results from 3D CLSM to size distributions from laser diffraction, a commonly used technique for size distributions in literature. We show that 3D CLSM can be used to obtain more accurate size distributions between 500 nm and 10 µm compared to laser diffraction. This work demonstrates that care should be taken when interpreting size distributions of MFGs measured with laser diffraction and that 3D CLSM is an accurate alternative for measuring size distributions in lactation and dairy research.