Breast-feeding is a highly effective strategy for preventing morbidity and mortality in infancy. The human-milk glycans, which include oligosaccharides in their free and conjugated forms, constitute a major and an innate immunologic mechanism by which human milk protects breast-fed infants against infections. The glycans found in human milk function as soluble receptors that inhibit pathogens f...

Minekawa, Ryoko, Takashi Takeda, Masahiro Sakata, Masami Hayashi, Aki Isobe, Toshiya Yamamoto, Keiichi Tasaka, and Yuji Murata. Human breast milk suppresses the transcriptional regulation of IL-1 -induced NFB signaling in human intestinal cells. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 287: C1404–C1411, 2004. First published June 30, 2004; doi:10.1152/ajpcell.00471.2003.—Neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NE...

BACKGROUND Human milk contains immune molecules involved in the protection of newborns against infections. We analyzed the concentration of Deleted in Malignant Brain Tumors 1 (DMBT1), a protein with functions in innate immunity, in breast milk. METHODS DMBT1 was detected in breast milk by Western blotting and its concentration was quantified by ELISA in 95 breast milk samples collected from ...

Although an elevated sodium concentration in human milk is suggested to be an indicator of mastitis, it is unclear whether elevated sodium concentrations are associated with immunological and inflammatory mediators in human milk. We conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate the relationships between elevated breast milk sodium concentrations and levels of lactoferrin, lysozyme, secretory le...

The effect of human milk on B cell function was studied by using murine spleen cells stimulated with suboptimal doses of lipopolysaccharide. Cell free, defatted, filtered colostrum as well as mature breast milk showed an enhancing effect on B cell proliferation and generation of antibody secretion, but this was not seen with formula milk. The activity was heat sensitive and resisted overnight d...

Recent research has demonstrated the unsurpassed value of breast-feeding in promoting the optimal nutrition of the human neonate. Breast milk has been shown to have a uniquely appropriate composition for the neonate at a time when growth and development are occurring at a near-maximal rate, yet when many of the body's systems (digestive, hepatic and renal) are relatively immature. The N require...

A survey of the databanks Medline and Web of science identified studies dealing with maternal and infant iodine nutrition during breast feeding. The iodine concentration of human milk varies widely due to maternal iodine intake. Mean breast milk iodine concentrations are reported as ranging from 5.4 to 2170 microg/L (median 62 microg/L) in worldwide studies. In the few studies that compared len...

The mechanisms controlling innate microbial recognition in the neonatal gut are still to be fully understood. We have sought specific regulatory mechanisms operating in human breast milk relating to TLR-mediated microbial recognition. In this study, we report a specific and differential modulatory effect of early samples (days 1-5) of breast milk on ligand-induced cell stimulation via TLRs. Alt...

BACKGROUND Fluoride is an essential element for human health. However, excess fluoride in drinking water may cause dental and/or skeletal fluorosis. Drinking water is the main route of fluoride intake. The aim of the present study was to measure fluoride levels in human breast milk collected from two regions of Golestan Province, northern Iran with different amount of fluoride concentration of ...

BACKGROUND Maternal dietary avoidance of egg has been recommended to treat egg allergy in breastfed infants. However, only one of three randomized controlled trials have produced evidence in favour of this recommendation. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to assess human milk ovalbumin (OVA) concentration after daily maternal ingestion of one cooked egg for 3 weeks. METHODS Mothers with egg-sensi...