Colostrum TGF-beta-1 associates with the duration of breast-feeding
Erkki Savilahti1, Kristiina M Saarinen
1Hospital for Children and Adolescents, University of Helsinki, POB 281, 00029 HUS (Helsinki), Finland. erkki.savilahti@hus.fi
Background:
Several stressful environmental factors are associated with short-term breast-feeding. A high concentration of sodium in colostrum has predicted early failure.
Aim Of The Study:
We studied the association of growth factors in colostrum and the length of breast-feeding (BF).
Methods:
We measured concentrations of TGF-beta1 and -beta2; epidermal growth factor, total protein, and sodium and compared their concentrations in colostral samples from mothers who either breast-fed their infants exclusively less than 0.5 months (n = 109) or longer than 3.5 months (n = 119).
Results:
In the short BF group more mothers smoked and were primiparous more frequently and had less often a university education. They also provided the colostral samples significantly later than did those with long BF. Geometric mean concentration for TGF-beta1 was 1.9 times as high in the samples from short BF mothers as in those with long BF; significant difference remained in comparisons of samples taken equally long postpartum. Samples from the short BF group showed higher levels for sodium, TGF-beta2 and total protein, whereas concentrations of epidermal growth factor were similar between groups.
Conclusions:
We thus infer that concentrations of factors in breast milk with an effect on the development and involution of the mammary gland, like TGF-beta1 in milk, may be one of many biological factors having an impact on the successful initiation of breast-feeding.
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