Nutrients, lipids in particular, make up the central nervous system structure and play major functional roles: they stimulate development, migration, and nerve cell differentiation. They are part of gray matter, white matter, nerve nuclei, and synaptogenesis. Breast milk contains lipids which are crucial for infant brain development. The lipid profile of breast milk was used as a guideline for ...

BACKGROUND Increasingly, evidence supports oral feeding of very low birth-weight (VLBW) preterm infants exclusively at breast or with breast milk. Despite known breast milk benefits, outcomes related to exclusive breast milk provision are poor. Identifying factors that promote breast milk provision is critical. PURPOSE Breastfeeding practices of mothers of VLBW infants admitted to neonatal in...

The functional capacity of human breast milk phagocytes was evaluated with both bactericidal and biochemical assays. Acridine orange was used as a vital stain for bacteria to directly visualize phagocytosis and killing. Bactericidal capabilities were further examined by colony count and chemiluminescent methods. Cytocentrifuged specimens stained for myeloperoxidase exhibited enzyme activity in ...

Breast milk is the optimal source of nutrition for infants. According to research, neonates fed breast milk have a reduced risk of sepsis, increased feeding tolerance, a decreased incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis, and better neurodevelopmental outcomes. Unfortunately, researchers have not identified practices to reduce or eliminate the risk for errors in breast milk administration. This a...

Background Effective interventions on exclusive breastfeeding that are appropriate for the existing conditions can have significant benefits on maintenance, continuity, and promotion of breastfeeding in mothers. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of Fenugreek on breast milk sufficiency in nursing mothers. Materials and Methods<...

Human breast milk is recognized as one of multiple important sources of commensal bacteria for infant gut. Previous studies searched for the bacterial strains shared between breast milk and infant feces by isolating bacteria and performing strain-level bacterial genotyping, but only limited number of milk bacteria were identified to colonize infant gut, including bacteria from Bifidobacterium, ...

BACKGROUND Expressing breast milk has become increasingly prevalent, particularly in some developed countries. Concurrently, breast pumps have evolved to be more sophisticated and aesthetically appealing, adapted for domestic use, and have become more readily available. In the past, expressed breast milk feeding was predominantly for those infants who were premature, small or unwell; however it...

BACKGROUND Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is associated with adverse outcomes in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-exposed infants. Determinants of vertical CMV transmission in the setting of maternal HIV-1 infection are not well-defined. METHODS CMV and HIV-1 levels were measured in plasma, cervical secretions, and breast milk of 147 HIV-1-infected women to define correlates of maternal CM...

longed exclusive breastfeeding can prevent allergic disease [8, 9] . There are over 250 proteins in human breast milk including a wide variety of cytokines, inflammatory mediators, signalling molecules and soluble receptors [10] , yet there is limited literature on the relationship between maternal diet, breast milk immune constituents and allergy development. In this issue of International Arc...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is spread through direct contact with blood, although alternative routes of transmission may contribute to the global burden. Perinatal infection occurs in up to 5% of HCV-infected mothers, and presence of HCV RNA in breast milk has been reported. We investigated the influence of breast milk on HCV infectiousness. METHODS/RESULTS Human breast milk reduced HC...