Immunological Protection of the Neonatal Gastrointestinal Tract: the Importance of Breast Feeding

Abstract

Immunoglobulins A, M and G were measured in the milk of 20 nursing mothers at the beginning of lactation and simultaneously in the faeces of their children. The IgA level in the human milk was very high especially during the first week of lactation. After the start of breast-feeding IgA rapidly increased in the faeces, whereas IgG and IgM concentrations were consistently very low. In 74 normal full-term bottle-fed infants IgA appeared in the faeces at the age of 3-4 weeks but the level was significantly lower than the IgA level in breast-fed infants at the same age. Secretory IgA of human milk is stable and resistant to gastrointestinal juices and enzymes, thus giving passive immunological protection to the digestive tract of the newborn infant.

Increased Poliovirus-Specific Intestinal Antibody Response Coincides with Promotion of Bifidobacterium longum-infantis and Bifidobacterium breve in Infants: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial

“…Paradoxically, breast-fed infants have been found to produce their own intestinal secretory IgA sooner than formula-fed infants (4). This stimulation of the immune system might be related to bacteria that highly colonize the intestinal tract of breast-fed infants, such as bifidobacteria (5-7).…”

The Effect of Recombinant TGFα, Human Milk, and Human Milk Macrophage Media on Gut Epithelial Proliferation Is Decreased in the Presence of a Neutralizing TGFα Antibody

“…The newborn gastrointestinal (GI) tract undergoes extensive maturational changes in the weeks following birth [1][2][3][4]. Certain dietary, hormonal and genetic influences affect GI development [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11], including human milk.…”

Feto-Maternal Interaction of Antibody and Antigen Transfer, Immunity and Allergy Development

“…The levels of sIgA antibodies in mature breast milk are approximately 20 times those of IgG (Jatsyk et al 1985). Recent research shows that the latter are principally responsible for surface phagocytosis in the infant, a function not associated with sIgA.…”

“…In addition to the provision of energy and nutrients human milk also contains components such as lactoferrin, lysozyme and antibodies, the levels of which depend on a number of factors, of which maternal nutritional status is the most important (Hennart et al 1991). The predominant antibodies in breast milk are sIgA antibodies with lower levels of IgG and IgM (Hanson & Winberg, 1972;Ahlstedt et al 1975;Jatsyk et al 1985). The breast milk sIgA in the gut of the suckled infant appears to be involved with blocking adhesion of potential pathogens to mucosal epithelial cells and complexing with potential pathogens to facilitate their clearance (Slade & Schwartz, 1987).…”