Milk, Microbes, and Medicine: The Triad Shaping Infant Health
A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Microbiomes".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 3417
Editors
2. “St. Spiridon” Clinical Emergency Hospital, 700115 Iasi, Romania
Interests: microbiology; bacteriology; virology; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; immune response; breastmilk
2. Sfânta Parascheva Clinical Hospital of Infectious Diseases, 700116 Iasi, Romania
Interests: human microbiota; antibacterial resistance; microbiological diagnosis in human infections
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
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 through 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, pediatricians, immunologists, nutritionists, lactation scientists and consultants, obstetricians and 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
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Keywords
- human milk
- breast milk
- microbiome
- breastfeeding
- infant
- gut microbiota
- microorganisms
- maternal-infant biome
- immunity
- antibodies
- bacteria
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