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Published on: February 15, 2018
Effect of breast-feeding on concentration of nitric oxide in breast milk
Fatih Akçay1, Hülya Aksoy, Ramazan Memisoğullari
1Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey. fakcay32@hotmail.com
Background:
The effect of breast-feeding on the concentration of nitric oxide (NO) in milk was investigated in lactating mothers.
Methods:
Breast milk specimens were obtained from 45 lactating women after normal delivery on postpartum days 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. The subjects were divided into three groups: group 1, breast-feeding only; group 2, mixed feeding (breast milk by manual expression and additional formula feeds); and group 3, formula feeding only. Milk NO concentration was measured as the sum of nitrite and nitrate using the Griess reaction.
Results:
The highest mean milk NO concentration was on day 4 in all groups, but the peak value in group 3 was significantly lower (P<0.0001) than in other groups. The milk NO concentrations of group 1 were significantly greater than those of groups 2 and 3.
Conclusions:
We conclude that breast-feeding increases the concentration of NO in milk.
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