According to experiments performed by American researchers in mice, one of the molecules found in breast milk (epidermal growth factor, EGF) activates receptors on intestinal cells, thus preventing dangerous intestinal bacteria from entering the bloodstream, where they can cause sepsis, or sepsis.
Researchers at the University of Washington Medical School in St. Louis and the Mayo Clinic infected newborn mice with the bacterium Escherichia coli, which was obtained from the blood of mice suffering from early-stage sepsis. The young mice were then breastfed either by their own mother or by another female that had previously given birth, so the level of EGF in their breast milk was already lower. According to the study, sepsis developed only in small mice fed females who had been breastfeeding for a long time, i.e. with lower EGF levels.
Kathryn A. Knoop, a professor of immunology at the Mayo Clinic and the first author of the study, said the result not only suggests the need to breastfeed whenever possible, but also that newborns need breast milk with higher EGF concentrations. The researcher pointed out that when a baby is fed breast milk provided by another mother, the level of EGF in it may not be adequate, as women who have been breastfeeding for a long time usually give milk.
Knoop added that the amount of epidermal growth factor in breast milk for newborns could possibly be increased to make up for the deficiency.
Researchers at the University of Washington Medical School in St. Louis and the Mayo Clinic infected newborn mice with the bacterium Escherichia coli, which was obtained from the blood of mice suffering from early-stage sepsis. The young mice were then breastfed either by their own mother or by another female that had previously given birth, so the level of EGF in their breast milk was already lower. According to the study, sepsis developed only in small mice fed females who had been breastfeeding for a long time, i.e. with lower EGF levels.
Kathryn A. Knoop, a professor of immunology at the Mayo Clinic and the first author of the study, said the result not only suggests the need to breastfeed whenever possible, but also that newborns need breast milk with higher EGF concentrations. The researcher pointed out that when a baby is fed breast milk provided by another mother, the level of EGF in it may not be adequate, as women who have been breastfeeding for a long time usually give milk.
Knoop added that the amount of epidermal growth factor in breast milk for newborns could possibly be increased to make up for the deficiency.
(Source: marmalade.co.hu; hirado.hu | Image: pixabay.com)