Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of maternal medications on nerve growth factor (NGF) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in human breast milk (HBM).
Methods: A total of 30 samples of HBM were collected after consent from consecutively born term newborns. NGF and IL-6 concentrations were analyzed using ELISA assays from R&D Systems. The HBM samples were centrifuged, and the clear portion of the HBM after discarding the fat was analyzed and cytokine data were expressed as NGFC or IL-6C. Ten samples of HBM, which were not centrifuged, were also used in ELISA assays and cytokine data were expressed as NGFF or IL-6F.
Results: After exposure to NSAIDs (7636 ± 9610, mean ± SD, pg/mL), the NGFC levels in HBM were significantly higher as compared to those who were exposed to narcotics (522 ± 1000) (p = 0.008). NGFC and IL-6C levels positively correlated with each other in HBM (R = 0.194 p < 0.0001). NGFC levels (360 ± 237) were significantly lower than NGFF levels (888 ± 751) (p < 0.0001). IL-6F was higher than IL-6C levels without statistical significance.
Conclusion: Further studies are warranted to elucidate effect of maternal medications on cytokine changes in HBM and effect of these cytokine changes on newborn gastrointestinal milieu.
Keywords: Breastmilk; IL-6; NGF; NSAIDs; cytokines.