Milk oligosaccharides: structural diversity, variability and potential for use in maintaining the health of farm animals

Abstract

Digestive disorders are frequent around weaning in livestock species, largely due to the immaturity of the intestinal barrier. These issues lead to substantial antibiotic use and significant economic losses. To limit the risk of antimicrobial resistance, nutritional strategies, implemented before weaning, must be developed to support gut health in young animals. Among these strategies, milk oligosaccharides, bioactive components, exert multiple beneficial functions in the intestinal tract. These functions depend on the chemical composition and structure of these molecules. Furthermore, the oligosaccharide composition of milk varies greatly in terms of both chemical structure and concentration between species, within species and within the same individual over the course of its life and lactation. In order to better understand the role of these compounds, it is essential to understand both the nature of the variations in the structure of these molecules and the origin of the variations in the oligosaccharide composition of milk from farm animals. Ultimately, milk oligosaccharides could represent an effective nutritional tool to preserve gut health in livestock production, particularly in the current context of reducing antibiotic use.