Skip to main content
PMC home page
Archives of Disease in Childhood logoLink to Archives of Disease in Childhood
. 1985 Jul;60(7):610–613. doi: 10.1136/adc.60.7.610

Human milk stimulates B cell function.

P Juto
PMCID: PMC1777299  PMID: 3875318

Abstract

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 dialysis. It is suggested that this could represent an important immunological mechanism explaining the anti-infectious properties of breast milk.

Full text

PDF
610

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Andersson J., Sjöberg O., Möller G. Mitogens as probes for immunocyte activation and cellular cooperation. Transplant Rev. 1972;11:131–177. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-065x.1972.tb00048.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Andersson U., Bird A. G., Britton B. S., Palacios R. Humoral and cellular immunity in humans studied at the cell level from birth to two years of age. Immunol Rev. 1981;57:1–38. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-065x.1981.tb00440.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bullen J. J., Rogers H. J., Leigh L. Iron-binding proteins in milk and resistance to Escherichia coli infection in infants. Br Med J. 1972 Jan 8;1(5792):69–75. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.5792.69. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Carpenter G. Epidermal growth factor is a major growth-promoting agent in human milk. Science. 1980 Oct 10;210(4466):198–199. doi: 10.1126/science.6968093. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chandra R. K. Prospective studies of the effect of breast feeding on incidence of infection and allergy. Acta Paediatr Scand. 1979 Sep;68(5):691–694. doi: 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1979.tb18439.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Crago S. S., Prince S. J., Pretlow T. G., McGhee J. R., Mestecky J. Human colostral cells. I. Separation and characterization. Clin Exp Immunol. 1979 Dec;38(3):585–597. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Durandy A., Fischer A., Griscelli C. Active suppression of B lymphocyte maturation by two different newborn T lymphocyte subsets. J Immunol. 1979 Dec;123(6):2644–2650. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Fergusson D. M., Horwood L. J., Shannon F. T., Taylor B. Infant health and breast-feeding during the first 16 weeks of life. Aust Paediatr J. 1978 Dec;14(4):254–258. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1754.1978.tb02994.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hanson L. A., Ahlstedt S., Carlsson B., Fällström S. P., Kaijser B., Lindblad B. S., Akerlund A. S., Edén C. S. New knowledge in human milk immunoglobulin. Acta Paediatr Scand. 1978 Sep;67(5):577–582. doi: 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1978.tb17805.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Juto P., Möller C., Engberg S., Björkstén B. Influence of type of feeding on lymphocyte function and development of infantile allergy. Clin Allergy. 1982 Jul;12(4):409–416. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2222.1982.tb02546.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Leanderson T., Lundgren E., Ruuth E., Borg H., Persson H., Coutinho A. B-cell growth factor: distinction from T-cell growth factor and B-cell maturation factor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Dec;79(23):7455–7459. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.23.7455. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Lepage P., Munyakazi C., Hennart P. Breastfeeding and hospital mortality in children in Rwanda. Lancet. 1981 Aug 22;2(8243):409–411. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(81)90844-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Matthews T. H., Nair C. D., Lawrence M. K., Tyrrell D. A. Antiviral activity in milk of possible clinical importance. Lancet. 1976 Dec 25;2(8000):1387–1389. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(76)91922-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Ogra S. S., Ogra P. L. Immunologic aspects of human colostrum and milk. II. Characteristics of lymphocyte reactivity and distribution of E-rosette forming cells at different times after the onset of lactation. J Pediatr. 1978 Apr;92(4):550–555. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(78)80286-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Otnaess A. B., Svennerholm A. M. Non-immunoglobulin fraction of human milk protects rabbits against enterotoxin-induced intestinal fluid secretion. Infect Immun. 1982 Feb;35(2):738–740. doi: 10.1128/iai.35.2.738-740.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Pettersson S., Pobor G., Bandeira A., Coutinho A. Distinct helper activities control growth or maturation of B lymphocytes. Eur J Immunol. 1983 Mar;13(3):249–254. doi: 10.1002/eji.1830130314. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Rosenberg S. A., Lipsky P. E. The role of monocyte factors in the differentiation of immunoglobulin secreting cells from human peripheral blood B cells. J Immunol. 1980 Jul;125(1):232–237. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Archives of Disease in Childhood are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES