{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T21:08:31Z","timestamp":1792789711119,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"19","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790208000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Secretar\u00eda de Ciencia, Humanidades, Tecnolog\u00eda e Innovaci\u00f3n","id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/059ex5q34","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/059ex5q34","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004685","name":"Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Nuevo Le\u00f3n","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PAICYT 2022"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PAICYT 2022"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004685","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["PAICYT 2022"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PAICYT 2022"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01fh86n78","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Human milk contains hormonal and immune bioactives that may vary with maternal, infant and perinatal characteristics including maternal body mass index (BMI), infant sex and birth mode. However, evidence linking these factors remains inconsistent. This exploratory study evaluated if maternal, infant and perinatal characteristics were associated with milk composition. Secondarily, hypothesis-generating analyses examined if milk hormones and cytokines were associated with infant anthropometric Z-scores. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 47 healthy term, exclusively breastfed mother\u2013infant dyads with ages ranging from 0.39 to 6.01 months. Milk hormones (ghrelin, leptin, insulin and glucagon) and cytokines (IL-1\u03b2, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-7, MCP-1, IFN-\u03b3 and TNF-\u03b1) were quantified using multiplex assays and infant anthropometry was evaluated using WHO Z-scores. Adjusted models included infant age, postpartum maternal BMI, infant sex, and birth mode. Analyte-specific complete-case samples ranged from 37 to 44. All p values were nominal, and false-discovery-rate-adjusted q values assessed multiplicity. Results: Postpartum maternal BMI was positively associated with milk leptin (\u03b2 = 0.152; p &lt; 0.001; n = 39) and cesarean delivery, relative to vaginal delivery, was associated with lower milk glucagon (\u03b2 = \u22120.579; p &lt; 0.001; n = 37). Milk IFN-\u03b3 showed nominal exploratory positive associations with weight-for-length Z-score (\u03b2 = 0.188; p = 0.017; n = 39) and BMI-for-age Z-score (\u03b2 = 0.211; p = 0.032; n = 39). Conclusions: Postpartum maternal BMI and birth mode showed robust adjusted associations with leptin and glucagon, respectively. The cross-sectional design does not establish temporal direction or clinical relevance. The IFN-\u03b3 findings require longitudinal evaluation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu18193145","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T08:06:37Z","timestamp":1790237197000},"page":"3145","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Exploratory Cross-Sectional Associations of Postpartum Maternal Body Mass Index and Infant Anthropometry with Human Milk Hormones and Cytokines"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4249-6484","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mario Daniel","family":"Caba-Flores","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Bioqu\u00edmica y Medicina Molecular, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Nuevo Le\u00f3n, Monterrey 64460, Nuevo Le\u00f3n, Mexico"},{"name":"Unidad de Neurometabolismo, Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n y Desarrollo en Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Nuevo Le\u00f3n, Monterrey 64460, Nuevo Le\u00f3n, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2467-1717","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gabriela","family":"Cruz-Carrillo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Bioqu\u00edmica y Medicina Molecular, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Nuevo Le\u00f3n, Monterrey 64460, Nuevo Le\u00f3n, Mexico"},{"name":"Unidad de Neurometabolismo, Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n y Desarrollo en Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Nuevo Le\u00f3n, Monterrey 64460, Nuevo Le\u00f3n, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8998-782X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nereida","family":"Montes-Castro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Occidente, Culiacan 80020, Sinaloa, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5186-3282","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jorge Iv\u00e1n","family":"Zurutuza-Lorm\u00e9ndez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Investigaciones Biomedicas, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa 91190, Veracruz, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"software","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7783-026X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Roc\u00edo","family":"Ortiz-L\u00f3pez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, The Institute for Obesity Research, Tecnol\u00f3gico de Monterrey, Monterrey 64710, Nuevo Le\u00f3n, 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