Analysis Of Melatonin Level In Breast Milk And Its Effect On Newborn Sleep

?Objectives? This study aimed to examine the dynamic change in breast milk melatonin throughout the course of lactation and the factors associated with its variations,as well as to determine the correlation between breast milk Mel and the sleep of healthy term infants.?Methods? In this observational study,32 preterm infants and 46 full-term infants and their mothers were enrolled.Breast milk was collected at 03:00,09:00,15:00 and 21:00 respectively.ELISA was used to analyze breast milk Melatonin from healthy nursing mothers at 0 to 30 days postpartum.The sleep time of healthy term infants and their mothers was counted.11 healthy full-term infants who were fed exclusively breast milk and formula milk were collected for the sleep questionnaire,respectively,to analyze the correlation between the melatonin level of breast milk and sleep,and the influence of different feeding patterns on the sleep of full-term infants.? Results ? In both preterm and term breast-milk,the Melatonin concentration presented a circadian rhythm with acrophase at around 03:00.Subgroup analysis showed that breast milk Mel levels differed significantly across lactation stages,with the highest concentration in the colostrum,followed by transitional and mature breast milk.Preterm breast milk has a higher concentration of Mel than term breast milk in the colostrum(p<0.05),transitional and mature breast milk.There was no significant correlation between breast milk Mel and healthy term infants' sleep.Different feeding patterns had no significant difference in the duration of sleep among healthy full-term infants.?Conclusions? The variation of Mel level in breast milk suggests that this hormone may play a role in infant health and development.Future studies can be developed based on this study's data to help elucidate specific roles of Melatonin in infant health.