Distribution of bioactive factors in human milk samples

Reka A Vass; Agnes Kemeny; Timea Dergez; Tibor Ertl; Dora Reglodi; Adel Jungling; Andrea Tamas

doi:10.1186/s13006-019-0203-3

Distribution of bioactive factors in human milk samples

Int Breastfeed J. 2019 Feb 11:14:9. doi: 10.1186/s13006-019-0203-3. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Reka A Vass¹, Agnes Kemeny^{2

3}, Timea Dergez⁴, Tibor Ertl⁵, Dora Reglodi¹, Adel Jungling¹, Andrea Tamas¹

Affiliations

¹ 1Department of Anatomy, MTA-PTE PACAP Research Group, Centre for Neuroscience, Medical School, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
² 2Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy; Medical School, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
³ 3Department of Medical Biology and Central Electron Microscope Laboratory, Medical School, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
⁴ 4Institute of Bioanalysis, Medical School, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
⁵ 5Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medical School, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.

Abstract

Background: Breast milk provides nutrition for infants and also contains a variety of bioactive factors that influence the development of the newborn. Human milk is a complex biological fluid that can be separated into different layers (water phase and lipid phase with its component water and lipid fractions). It can affect the developing human body along the whole length of the gastrointestinal tract, and through the circulation, its factors may reach every organ.

Methods: In the present study, we analyzed milk samples collected monthly for 6 months from 16 mothers from the 4^th week postpartum between 2014 and 2016 in Baranya County, Hungary. The 96 samples provided us information about the fluctuation of certain bioactive factors during the first 6 months of lactation. We investigated with Luminex technology the concentrations of several cytokines (CD40, Flt-3L), chemokines (MCP-1, RANTES, GRO, MIP-1ß, MDC, eotaxin, fractalkine), and epidermal growth factor (EGF). Paired t-tests and one-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni post-hoc tests were used to compare the data.

Results: We detected the presence of each bioactive factor in every layer of the milk samples during the first 6 months of breastfeeding in widespread concentration ranges. In the case of GRO, MIP-1ß, MDC, Flt-3L, fractalkine, and eotaxin, the concentrations were constant during the first 6 months of lactation. The water phase of human milk contained higher factor concentrations compared to both fractions of the lipid phase for most factors (except eotaxin and MIP-1ß). The concentrations of CD40, EGF, MCP-1, and RANTES in the first 3 months were significantly different compared to the values detected between 4^th and 6^th months. In the water phase, the level of MCP-1 was significantly decreased, while all of the other factors increased during the 4^th through 6^th months. We found significantly higher EGF, GRO, and RANTES levels in the water fraction compared to the lipid fraction of the lipid phase.

Conclusions: The novel findings of this investigation were the presence of Flt-3L and MDC in all layers of breast milk, and nearly all bioactive factors in the lipid phase. Due to their widespread physiological effects these factors may have an essential role in organogenesis.

Keywords: Bioactive factors; Breast milk; Chemokines; Cytokines; Flt-3L; Growth factor; Lipid phase; Luminex; MDC; Water phase.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Chemokines / analysis
Cytokines / analysis
Epidermal Growth Factor / analysis
Female
Humans
Lactation
Milk, Human / chemistry*

Substances

Chemokines
Cytokines
Epidermal Growth Factor