Development: Mother's milk: A rich opportunity

Petherick, Anna

doi:10.1038/468s5a

Cited by 78 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Beyond the nutritional composition, breast milk contains a number of bioactive components that are thought to be protective and to supplement innate immunity, impacting infant microbiota composition and health (24,25). This protection is provided by components such as regulatory cytokines and growth factors, human milk oligosaccharides and milk microbiota that support and guide the immune system development and maturation.…”

Section: Breast Milk As the Link Between Mother And Infantmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gut microbiota: a source of novel tools to reduce the risk of human disease?

et al. 2014

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Section: Breast Milk As the Link Between Mother And Infantmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gut microbiota: a source of novel tools to reduce the risk of human disease?

et al. 2014

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“…Breast-feeding is thus the functional integration of maternal and offspring immune systems (Brandtzaeg 2010). Yet milk is not merely a conduit of immune factors from mother to offspring; it also contains proteins that direct the development of the infant immune system (Petherick 2010), along with several other factors that probably shape neonatal growth and metabolism (Savino et al 2010b).…”

Section: Maternal Environment and Developmental Programmingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mount Pinatubo, Inflammatory Cytokines, and the Immunological Ecology of Aeta Hunter-Gatherers

Bernstein

Dominy

2013

Human Biology

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Early growth cessation and reproduction are predicted to maximize fitness under conditions of high adult mortality, factors that could explain the pygmy phenotype of many rainforest hunter-gatherers. This lifehistory hypothesis is elegant but contentious in part because it lacks a clear biological mechanism. One mechanism stems from the field of human immunological ecology and the concept of inflammation "memory" across the life cycle and into subsequent generations. Maternal exposures to disease can infl uence immunological cues present in breast milk; because maternal provisioning via lactation occurs during critical periods of development, it is plausible that these cues can also mediate early growth cessation and small body size. Such epigenetic hypotheses are difficult to test, but the concept of developmental programming is attractive because it could explain how the stature of a population can change over time, in terms of both secular increases and rapid intergenerational decreases. Here we explore this concept by focusing on the Aeta, a population of former hunter-gatherers, and the Ilocano, a population of rice farmers. We predicted that Aeta mothers would produce breast milk with higher concentrations of four bioactive factors due to high infectious burdens. Further, we predicted that the concentrations of these factors would be highest in the cohort of women born in the early 1990s, when exposure to infectious disease was acute following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991. We analyzed levels of adiponectin, C-reactive protein, and epidermal growth factor in the milk of 24 Aeta and 31 Ilocano women and found no detectable differences, whereas levels of transforming growth factor-β 2 were elevated among the Aeta, particularly as a function of maternal age. We found no difference between cohorts divided by the volcanic eruption (n = 43 born before, n = 12 born after). We discuss the implications of our findings for the terminal investment hypothesis and we suggest that the historical ecology of the Aeta is a promising model system for testing epigenetic hypotheses focused on the evolution of small body size. Abstract Early growth cessation and reproduction are predicted to maximize fitness under conditions of high adult mortality, factors that could explain the pygmy phenotype of many rainforest hunter-gatherers. This life-history hypothesis is elegant but contentious in part because it lacks a clear biological mechanism. One mechanism stems from the field of human immunological ecology and the concept of inflammation "memory" across the life cycle and into subsequent generations. Maternal exposures to disease can infl uence immunological cues present in breast milk; because maternal provisioning via lactation occurs during critical periods of development, it is plausible that these cues can also mediate early growth cessation and small body size. Such epigenetic hypotheses are difficult to test, but the concept of developmental programming is attractive because it could explain how the...

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“…t he complex and distinct composition of human milk may exert specific effects on infant nutrition, immunological competence, and later health (1,2). Protection may be provided by components including regulatory cytokines and growth factors as well as by other compounds such as peptides, certain fatty acids, and oligosaccharides.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal weight and excessive weight gain during pregnancy modify the immunomodulatory potential of breast milk

et al. 2012

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IntroductIon: Breast milk is an optimal source of nutrition for infants. It contains bioactive components including bacteria that support the microbial colonization and immune system development of the infant. The determinants of human milk composition remain poorly understood, although maternal nutritional and immunological status as well as lifestyle and dietary habits seem to have an impact. Methods: The subjects selected were women from a prospective follow-up study categorized by BMI. Milk samples were taken after delivery and at 1 and 6 mo later for analysis of composition in regard to transforming growth factor (TGF)-β2, soluble cD14 (scD14), cytokines, and microbiota. results: TGF-β2 and scD14 levels in the breast milk of overweight mothers tended to be lower than the levels in that of normal-weight mothers. also, higher levels of Staphylococcus group bacteria and lower levels of Bifidobacterium group bacteria were detected in overweight mothers as compared with normal-weight ones. The prevalence of Akkermansia muciniphila-type bacteria was also higher in overweight mothers, and the numbers of these bacteria were related to the interleukin (IL)-6 concentration in the colostrum, which was in turn related to lower counts of Bifidobacterium group bacteria in the breast milk of overweight women. dIscussIon: complex interactions of cytokines and microbiota in breast milk guide the microbiological, immunological, and metabolic programming of infant health. Our data may indicate the presence of an additional mechanism that may explain the heightened risk of obesity for infants of overweight and excessive weight gain mothers.

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Development: Mother's milk: A rich opportunity

Cited by 78 publications

References 10 publications

Gut microbiota: a source of novel tools to reduce the risk of human disease?

Gut microbiota: a source of novel tools to reduce the risk of human disease?

Mount Pinatubo, Inflammatory Cytokines, and the Immunological Ecology of Aeta Hunter-Gatherers

Maternal weight and excessive weight gain during pregnancy modify the immunomodulatory potential of breast milk

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