Milk, Microbes, and Medicine: The Triad Shaping Infant Health

Dear Colleagues,

Breastfeeding is more than a method of nourishment, it is a dynamic biological process shaped by complex microbial interactions. Human milk is not sterile; it harbors a diverse community of bacteria, human milk oligosaccharides, antimicrobial peptides, and immunoglobulins that collectively shape the infant’s early-life microbiome and immune system.

This Special Issue, invites cutting-edge research and reviews exploring the microbial ecology of lactation and its profound influence on infant and maternal health. We aim to unravel how microorganisms contribute to infant gut colonization, immune development, infection resistance, and metabolic programming throughout breastmilk interactions, and how maternal factors such as diet, antibiotic use, stress, and delivery mode modulate this ecosystem.

This Special Issue encompasses a broad and interdisciplinary range of topics that can be harmoniously integrated to reflect the complex interplay between microbiology and breastfeeding. It welcomes a diverse spectrum of article types addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Characterization and diversity of the human milk microbiome;
• Mechanisms and impact of maternal–infant microbial transfer;
• The role of breast milk in shaping the neonatal gut microbiota;
• Host–microorganisms interactions influencing early-life immune development;
• Probiotic and prebiotic properties inherent in human milk;
• Influence of maternal factors (e.g., antibiotic exposure, mode of delivery, psychological stress) on the milk microbiota and infant microbiota;
• Long-term health consequences of microbial exposure mediated through breastfeeding;
• Application of omics-based approaches (metagenomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics) in the study of lactation microbiology;
• Prospects and challenges in the therapeutic modulation of milk-associated microbiota;
• Post-infection or post-vaccination transmission of infectious agents through human breast milk;
• Immune system modulation in the infant through breast milk after maternal infection or vaccination;
• Dynamic adaptation of human milk composition in response to infections in the breastfed infant.

This Special Issue is carefully designed to appeal to a broad academic audience including microbiologists, neonatologists, paeditricians, immunologists, nutritionists, lactation scientists and consultants, obstetricians & gynecologists, family physicians, infectious disease doctors, public health researchers, specialists in metagenomics, metabolomics, proteomics of milk, biochemists, psychologists (exploring stress-related changes in milk microbiota) and pharmacologists. It welcomes original research articles, systematic reviews, short communications, and perspectives from researchers interested in maternal and child microbiological health.

Together, we seek to bridge the gap between microbiological science and lactation, providing new insights into the role of human milk as a conduit of microbial and immune signals that influence health across the lifespan.

Dr. Felicia Trofin
Prof. Dr. Olivia Dorneanu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• human milk
• breast milk
• microbiome
• breastfeeding
• infant
• gut microbiota
• microorganisms
• maternal-infant biome
• immunity
• antibodies
• bacteria