. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Mar 1.

Published in final edited form as: J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2015 Mar;60(3):294–307. doi: 10.1097/MPG.0000000000000597

Table 1.

Breast Milk Benefits

Probiotic	Bacteria sampled from maternal gut directly inoculate infant gut
Prebiotic	Indigestible oligosaccharides
Innate immunity	Antimicrobial peptides, lactoferrin and lysozyme
	Soluble CD14 recognizes LPS
	Soluble TLR2
Adaptive immunity	Secretory IgA specific to pathogens encountered in maternal gut
	Glycan decoy cell adhesion molecules

Maternal breast milk contains both innate and adaptive immune factors, which shape the infant microflora and protect against pathogenic infection. In addition, breast milk contains live bacteria translocated from the maternal gut and prebiotic oligosaccharides to encourage growth of commensals.