Figure 2. Comparison of colostrum and mature human milk cytokine levels between women with and without peripartum infections.
Women with documented peripartum infections or fever (n=97) were compared to women without infections (n=203). A set of 4 cytokines were decreased in colostrum of women with infections: (a) MIP-1β, (b) IL-8, (c) IL-1ra, (d) IFN-γ. Two cytokines (e) IL-12 and (f) TGF-β3, conversely, were slightly higher in mature milk samples. Col-I, colostrum samples from women with infections; Col-U, colostrum samples from women without infections; Mat-I, mature milk samples from women with infections; Mat-U, mature milk samples from women without infections. *P<0.05; **P<0.01. Statistical significance was calculated using the Mann-Whitney U test.