Table 4.
Frequency and concentration of immune factors detected in milk samples from healthy women (HW) and mastitis cases (MW).
| HW (n = 41) | MW (n = 54) | p-valueb | p-valuec | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%)a | Median (IQR) | n (%) | Median (IQR) | |||
| Innate immunity | ||||||
| IL1β (ng/L) | 23 (56) | 1.10 (0.33–2.20) | 51 (94) | 8.10 (1.16–23.41) | 0.000* | 0.003* |
| IL6 (ng/L) | 17 (41) | 12.70 (6.80–18.40) | 42 (78) | 10.60 (2.42–36.81) | 0.000* | 0.684 |
| IL12(p70) (ng/L) | 6 (14) | 0.55 (0.12–0.90) | 8 (15) | 2.29 (0.76–4.69) | 0.796 | 0.331 |
| IFNγ (ng/L) | 1 (2) | 4.70 | 52 (96) | 54.43 (11.22–259.87) | 0.000* | – |
| TNFα (ng/L) | 18 (44) | 3.15 (2.02–4.52) | 54 (100) | 29.02 (12.81–72.70) | 0.000* | 0.000* |
| Acquired immunity | ||||||
| IL2 (ng/L) | 0 (0) | - | 38 (70) | 6.55 (0.98–18.68) | 0.000* | – |
| IL4 (ng/L) | 1 (2) | 0.70 | 28 (52) | 0.65 (0.26–1.39) | 0.000* | – |
| IL10 (ng/L) | 33 (80) | 3.30 (1.75–4.32) | 6 (11) | 3.51 (3.29–4.40) | 0.000* | 0.680 |
| IL13 (ng/L) | 33 (80) | 2.70 (1.60–3.90) | 10 (18) | 0.76 (0.35–1.24) | 0.000* | 0.000* |
| IL17 (ng/L) | 3 (7) | 4.30 (3.20–5.40) | 31 (57) | 18.30 (8.54–51.43) | 0.000* | 0.227 |
| Chemokines | ||||||
| IL8 (ng/L) | 41 (100) | 72.10 (32.10–182.30) | 54 (100) | 270.94 (120.96–1818.12) | 1.000 | 0.000* |
| MCP1 (ng/L) | 32 (78) | 156.55 (71.17–283.30) | 53 (98) | 380.45 (80.27–1040.27) | 0.003* | 0.012* |
| MIP1β (ng/L) | 39 (95) | 30.70 (16.60–68.15) | 54 (100) | 25.34 (9.75–161.30) | 0.092 | 0.922 |
| Hematopoyetic factors | ||||||
| IL5 (ng/L) | 3 (7) | 2.60 (1.70–2.70) | 15 (28) | 33.30 (18.16–59.57) | 0.015* | 0.019* |
| IL7 (ng/L) | 38 (93) | 34.60 (27.27–53.32) | 22 (41) | 22.41 (11.46–62.17) | 0.000* | 0.313 |
| GCSF (ng/L) | 29 (71) | 18.30 (4.90–57.40) | 51 (94) | 201.40 (51.06–696.52) | 0.000* | 0.000* |
| GMCSF (ng/L) | 3 (7) | 12.90 (6.65–18.35) | 19 (35) | 4.17 (1.31–5.14) | 0.005* | 0.398 |
| TGFβ2 (µg/L) | 41 (100) | 2.00 (1.10–3.40) | 54 (100) | 1.34 (0.45–6.25) | 1.000 | 0.471 |
GCSF granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, GMCSF granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor, INFγ interferon-γ, IL interleukin, MCP1 macrophage-monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, MIP1β macrophage inflammatory protein-1β, TGFβ2 transforming growth factor-β2, TNFα tumor necrosis factor-α.
*Statistically significant difference, p < 0.05.
an (%): number (percentage) of samples in which the immunological compound was detected (relative frequency of detection).
bχ2 or Fisher tests (in italics) were used to determine a possible association between the breast health status and the immunological compound. FDR-adjusted p-values.
cWilcoxon rank sum tests were used to determine differences in the concentration detected of each immunological compound between samples from the HW and MW groups. FDR-adjusted p-values.