* Infant formula: Historically HMOs were not part of infant formula, and bottle-fed babies could not benefit from their positive health effects. However recently more and more HMOs, including 2'-Fucosyllactose and Lacto-N-neotetraose, are being added as supplements to modern infant formula. Recently an infant formula with a combination of 5 different HMOs (2′-fucosyllactose, 2′,3-di-fucosyllactose, lacto-N-tetraose, 3′-sialyllactose, and 6′-sialyllactose) was tested in a clinical trial with positive effects on gut microflora. However it is important to note that even this type of infant formula is far from the natural abundance of nearly 200 HMOs present in human milk.
* Irritable bowel syndrome: Human milk oligosaccharides are also used to treat the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which is a gastrointestinal disorder affecting 10–15% of the developed world. A 12-week treatment with an orally taken HMO mixture showed significant improvement of the life quality of IBS patients.