Breastmilk
Helps Jump - Start a Baby's Immune System
Breastmilk Helps Jump-Start a Baby's Immune System
 Nursing mothers have long known that by breastfeeding, they are passing on immunities to their babies to help fight viruses and illnesses. Now, researchers believe they are beginning to understand exactly how that illness protection works. A group of researchers have identified a specific kind of protein in breastmilk that helps jump-start a baby's immune system, providing active protection to the baby. The protein, called soluble CD14, works to develop B cells, which are immune cells that are instrumental in the production of antibodies. The researchers, led by Dr. Michael Julius of the University of Toronto and the Toronto Hospital, published their finding in the January 16, 2001 edition of the Proceeding of the National Academy of Science (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Vol. 98, Issue 2, 603-608) Researchers had known about CD14 for some time, but they had not clearly understood its function. "This is the first demonstration of this biological activity of the molecule and the fact that it is so extraordinarily enriched in mammary secretions," Dr. Julius told Reuters news service. Dr. Julius and his colleagues at the University of Western Ontario, Osaka University and Toronto-based GEMMA Biotechnology Inc. studied CD14 and the B cells in mice to come up with their findings. Further tests revealed that human milk and colostrum are rich in CD14. Click here to read an abstract of this study. |
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