Breast milk can protect against NEC, the serious intestinal inflammation that affects newborns – time.news

2023-07-31 12:10:05

by Chiara Bidoli

A new study shows how certain types of antibodies, transmitted through breast milk, protect newborns (especially premature ones) from necrotizing enterocolitis

The mother’s antibodies, transmitted through breast milk, protect against necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC, Necrotizing EnteroColitis), a serious intestinal disease that affects newborns, especially premature babies. According to a new study by the University of Pittsburgh, published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, the protection against various infections varies from newborn to newborn because the type of antibodies varies from mother to mother. Before a newborn’s immune system matures, protection from harmful bacteria comes from antibodies passed on from the mother through the placenta and breast milk. Maternal antibodies, however, are unique to each woman and remain the same throughout breastfeeding and subsequent pregnancies, which may explain why some babies are predisposed to developing NEC (or other diseases) and others are immune. . During our study we found that the antibodies of the same donor were quite similar over time, even over months, while those of milk donors were very different from each other, explains Timothy Hand, lead author of the study and associate professor of pediatrics and immunology at Pitt School of Medicine and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. This means that if a child’s mother lacks specific antibodies, such as those that fight NEC, the child will never receive this immunity. And why some children get NEC and others don’t, Hand continues. The study also reports data from other investigations showing that NEC (linked to the family of bacteria called “enterobacteriaceae”) is 2 to 4 times more frequent in infants fed with formula milk than in those fed with mother’s milk.

Immune system of newborns and maternal antibodies

In a previous study, Hand and his team found that the presence of “enterobacteriaceae” in fecal samples of healthy children was mostly related to the presence of specific maternal antibodies that protected the child from damage by the bacteria (in the case of necrotizing enterocolitis, inflammation leads to damage and death of cells in the intestine). Conversely, infants who developed NEC had a higher proportion of bacteria that had no link with the mother’s antibodies. This would explain, as reported in the study, why there is a variation in the immunity of newborns to NEC: every mother, and therefore consequently every newborn, has different antibodies. To prove it, Hand and his team analyzed breast milk from donors from the Human Milk Science Institute and Biobank of Pittsburgh and Mommy’s Milk Human Milk Research Biorepository in San Diego. Using an array of different bacteria, they measured which strains each donor’s antibodies bound to.
The antibody profiles of the individual donors looked completely different, as we expected, but we were able to demonstrate this for the first time. – said Hand – During pregnancy, B lymphocytes (or B cells) move from the intestine to the mammary gland, where they begin to produce antibodies. The fact that they are different from woman to woman because each mother’s “history” is different, the microbiomes are different, they have come across different types of infections, so it makes perfect sense that the antibodies present in breast milk reflect this variability.

Mother’s milk

During the breastfeeding period, mother’s milk transforms from highly concentrated, protein-rich colostrum into mature milk. To understand whether the composition of the antibodies also changes, Hand and his team compared breast milk from the same donors over time and over the course of multiple pregnancies. Not only were the antibodies present similar during pregnancy, but they were also remarkably stable among the newborns. – specifies Hand – This suggests that when B lymphocytes arrive in the breast tissue, they stay. This is important for understanding how children acquire immunity and how they deal with infections. The researchers also wondered whether the antibodies in breast milk were different in the case of a donor who gave birth preterm. Some B lymphocytes move into the mammary gland during the third trimester, so we wondered if the milk of a woman who gives birth before term could have a lower amount of antibodies than those who give birth at term – explains Hand -. The good news was that we found no difference: people who deliver preterm have the same amount of antibodies as those who deliver at term. Other studies have confirmed that breast milk is the best nutrient for reducing a premature baby’s chances of developing NEC. However, if it is not available, donated milk is an important substitute or supplement even if pasteurization reduces the levels of antibodies present. Hand said more research is needed to understand what levels of antibodies are protective against diseases like NEC and how, in the future, research could help develop antibodies that can be added to formula or breast milk to boost immunity.

July 31, 2023 (change July 31, 2023 | 12:09)

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