Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 18, 2026
Intraductal Injection of LPS as a Mouse Model of Mastitis: Signaling Visualized via an NF-κB Reporter Transgenic
Published on: September 4, 2012
Mastitis is associated with IL-6 levels and milk fat globule size in breast milk
Katsumi Mizuno1, Misato Hatsuno, Kimiyo Aikawa
1Department of Pediatrics, Showa University of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. katsuorobi@gmail.com
Background:
From animal studies, it is known that mastitic inflammation of the mammary lobes can produce proinflammatory cytokines and can damage the milk fat globule (MFG).
Objective:
To investigate, in women, whether MFG and interleukin (IL)-6 differences are observed between mastitic milk (MM) and healthy milk (HM) of a mother.
Methods:
MM was obtained from the specific nipple pore leading to the mastitic lobe of 17 women; HM was obtained from the other breast. Milk sampling occurred at days 0 (pre-treatment), 1, and 2 (post-treatment). MFG size and IL-6 were measured by laser light scattering and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. We analyzed MFG and IL-6 differences between HM and MM, whether any differences occurred over time with treatment, and whether differences were observed between mothers with systemic symptoms (fever/malaise, Group A) or without systemic symptoms (Group B).
Results:
On day 0, MM had higher MFG size (P < .01) and IL-6 levels (P < .001) than HM. This difference significantly decreased over time with treatment for both MFG size (P < .01) and IL-6 (P < .05). On day 0, Group A mothers had significantly larger MFG size (P < .01) and IL-6 (P < .001) than Group B.
Conclusions:
MM contains larger MFG and higher IL-6 levels than milk from the healthy breast. This difference is larger if accompanied by systemic symptoms of mastitis (fever/malaise). These changes decreased over time with treatment. Therefore, early initiation of appropriate treatment may be useful in limiting the processes that contribute to alterations in MFG size and IL-6.
