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Anti‐infective proteins in breast milk and asthma‐associated phenotypes during early childhood
Author(s) -
Zhang Guicheng,
Lai Ching Tat,
Hartmann Peter,
Oddy Wendy H.,
Kusel Merci M. H.,
Sly Peter D.,
Holt Patrick G.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
pediatric allergy and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.269
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1399-3038
pISSN - 0905-6157
DOI - 10.1111/pai.12265
Subject(s) - atopy , medicine , asthma , breast milk , prospective cohort study , immunology , confounding , cohort , cohort study , recall bias , respiratory system , breast feeding , pediatrics , pathology , biology , biochemistry
Background The impact of breast milk feeding on susceptibility to asthma in childhood is highly controversial, due in part to failure of the majority of studies in the area to adequately account for key confounders exemplified by respiratory infection history, plus the effects of recall bias. Methods As part of a prospective cohort study on the role of respiratory infections in asthma development in high‐risk children, we measured the concentration of a panel of anti‐infective proteins in maternal milk samples and analyzed associations between these and subsequent atopy‐, infection‐, and asthma‐related outcomes prospectively to age 10 years. Results We observed significant but transient inverse associations between the concentration of milk proteins and susceptibility to upper respiratory infections in year 1 only, and parallel but positive transient associations with early lower respiratory infections and atopy. No associations were seen with asthma‐related outcomes. Conclusions Breast milk feeding may influence the expression of inflammatory symptoms associated with respiratory infections and atopy in early life, but these effects appear to be inconsistent and transient. The heterogeneous nature of breast‐feeding effects suggests it may influence systemic immunoinflammatory function at several different levels.