Human milk IgA concentrations during the first year of lactation
a Department of Child Health, University of
Glasgow, b Department of
Child Health, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, c MRC Dunn Nutrition Unit, Cambridge
Correspondence to: Professor L T Weaver, Department of Child Health, University of Glasgow, Yorkhill Hospitals, Glasgow G3 8SJ.
Accepted 13 August 1997
AIMS
To measure the concentrations of total IgA
in the milk secreted by both breasts, throughout the first year of
lactation, in a cohort of Gambian mothers of infants at high risk of infection.
SUBJECTS AND METHODSSixty five women and their
infants were studied monthly from the 4th to 52nd postpartum week.
Samples of milk were obtained from each breast by manual expression
immediately before the infant was suckled. Milk intakes were measured
by test weighing the infants before and after feeds over 12 hour
periods; IgA concentrations were determined by enzyme linked
immunosorbent assay.
RESULTSA total of 1590 milk samples was
measured. The median (interquartile range) concentration of IgA for all
samples was 0.708 (0.422-1.105) g/l; that in milk obtained from the
left breast was 0.785 (0.458-1.247) g/l, and that in milk obtained
from the right breast was 0.645 (0.388-1.011) g/l (p < 0.0001). There
was no significant change in milk or IgA intakes with advancing infant age, but there was a close concordance of IgA concentrations between the two breasts, with "tracking" of the output of the left and right breasts. There was a significant (p < 0.01) negative correlation between maternal age and parity, and weight of milk ingested by infants. During the dry season (December to May) the median
(interquartile range) IgA concentration was significantly higher at
0.853 (0.571-1.254) g/l than during the rainy season (June to
November), when it was 0.518 (0.311-0.909) g/l (p < 0.0001).
CONCLUSIONSSustained IgA secretion is likely to
protect suckling infants from microbial infection.
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© 1998 by Archives of Disease in Childhood
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