PMID- 12390440
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20030716
LR  - 20191106
IS  - 0905-6157 (Print)
IS  - 0905-6157 (Linking)
VI  - 13
IP  - 4
DP  - 2002 Aug
TI  - Leucocytes in human milk and lymphocyte subsets in cow's milk-allergic infants.
PG  - 243-54
AB  - The breast-fed infant ingests an average of 108 leucocytes per day, with 
      breast-feeding often continuing for several months. The precise role of human 
      milk leucocytes is still unresolved. Breast-feeding has been recommended for 
      infants at high risk of allergy to prevent or delay the development of food 
      allergies and atopic eczema. However, studies dealing with distinct immunologic 
      factors in the mother's milk, and their effect on health status or development of 
      allergies in the infant, are scarce. We evaluated the relationship between the 
      cellular composition of human milk and the development of cow's milk allergy 
      (CMA) in the breast-fed infant. Leucocyte subsets in the breast-fed infants were 
      also measured. The study population comprised 61 breast-feeding mothers and their 
      infants. Thirty-nine mothers each had a cow's milk-allergic infant, 10 had an 
      infant with atopic dermatitis without CMA, and 12 mothers had a healthy infant. 
      Leucocyte subsets in mothers' milk were counted using a light microscope and 
      confirmed by flow cytometry. In infants, peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets were 
      determined by flow cytometry and were correlated with the health status of the 
      breast-fed infant and leucocyte composition of the mother's milk. Human milk was 
      found to be a non-homogenous morphological entity. In the milk of mothers of 
      infants with CMA, the proportion of macrophages was significantly smaller than in 
      the mothers with infants without CMA (p = 0.036, t-test). Mothers with high 
      proportions of neutrophils in their milk (> 20%) had significantly more often 
      infants with CMA than did those with low proportions of neutrophils (p = 0.02; 
      Fischer's exact test). Eosinophils comprising > 1% of milk cells were only 
      detected in the mothers who had infants with CMA. Furthermore, the proportions of 
      CD4+ T cells were positively correlated with the proportion of milk macrophages 
      and negatively with the percentage of milk neutrophils and eosinophils. The 
      proportions of total B cells and those expressing CD23, a low-affinity 
      immunoglobulin E (IgE) receptor, were positively correlated with the proportions 
      of neutrophils and eosinophils in mother's milk and negatively with the 
      percentage of milk macrophages. To conclude, the composition of breast milk in 
      some mothers is abnormal and correlates with a diagnosis of CMA in a breast-fed 
      infant. This may provide a new and interesting insight into the development of 
      food allergies.
FAU - Jarvinen, Kirsi-Marjut
AU  - Jarvinen KM
AD  - Helsinki University Central Hospital, Skin and Allergy Hospital, Department of 
      Dermatology, Helsinki, Finland. kirsi.jarvinen@mssm.edu
FAU - Suomalainen, Hanna
AU  - Suomalainen H
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - England
TA  - Pediatr Allergy Immunol
JT  - Pediatric allergy and immunology : official publication of the European Society 
      of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
JID - 9106718
SB  - IM
MH  - B-Lymphocyte Subsets/*immunology
MH  - Breast Feeding
MH  - CD4 Lymphocyte Count
MH  - Dermatitis, Atopic/*immunology
MH  - Female
MH  - Flow Cytometry
MH  - Humans
MH  - Infant
MH  - Leukocytes/*immunology
MH  - Lymphocyte Count
MH  - Male
MH  - Milk Hypersensitivity/*immunology
MH  - Milk, Human/chemistry/*immunology
MH  - T-Lymphocyte Subsets/*immunology
EDAT- 2002/10/23 04:00
MHDA- 2003/07/17 05:00
CRDT- 2002/10/23 04:00
PHST- 2002/10/23 04:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2003/07/17 05:00 [medline]
PHST- 2002/10/23 04:00 [entrez]
AID - pai0o087 [pii]
AID - 10.1034/j.1399-3038.2002.00087.x [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2002 Aug;13(4):243-54. doi: 
      10.1034/j.1399-3038.2002.00087.x.