By Colleen Hurley, RD, Certified Kid’s Nutrition Specialist
There is yet another addition to the list of reasons to breastfeed.After recently discovering that breastfeeding does not contribute to post-pregnancy breast sagging, the reasons not to breastfeed are getting fewer and fewer.One of the main appeals of breastfeeding is the transferring of immunity from mother to baby via breast milk.Although this transference was known by examining antibodies from both mother and baby, exact mechanisms have remained unknown -until now that is.
The Brigham Young University Stanford-Harvard research team isolated the molecule responsible for a mothers’ ability to pass on her immunity to her baby.The molecule is called CCR10, and its discovery and new understanding of its mechanics may be able to help mothers help their infants in the future.
For years before pregnancy, intestinal infection antibody making cells travel throughout a woman’s body, often taking the “exit ramp″ to the intestines.Once in place, those cells stand ready to protect her body from infections such as rotavirus and cholera.What has been discovered by researchers is that once a woman begins lactating, these cells take a different “exit″, one that leads instead to the mammary glands.
The alternate route allows a nursing baby the chance for those antibodies to go right to his intestines, a move that provides protection from illness while he is still building up his own immune system.It was previously unknown that a lactating mother’s body signaled the antibody producing cells to take a different route.
Researchers note the use of CCR10 would be imperative when creating a vaccine enabling a mother to pass her protective antibodies to her child.Mice that had been bred to lack CCR10 were used in the study, which resulted in 70 times fewer antibody producing cells when lactating.
The Baby Mum-Mum blog discusses everything to do with babies and parenting with a focus on child health and child development. Baby Mum-Mum is a healthy, easy to digest baby rice snack that is enjoyed by babies and mothers around the world for its portability, gluten free ingredients and great taste.
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