Effect of malnutrition on serum and milk antibodies in Zairian women

Brüssow, Harald; Barclay, Denis; Sidoti, Josette; Rey, S. I.; Blondel, A; Dirren, Henri; Verwilghen, A M; Geert, C Van

doi:10.1128/cdli.3.1.37-41.1996

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Miller (2011) found that poorly nourished Kenyan women had mean breastmilk IgA levels lower than published values for Western women. In contrast, Brussow (1996) found that immunoglobulin titers to specific infections were detectable in both well‐ and poorly nourished Zairian women; however, malnourished women had lower milk outputs, which lowered the volume of immunoglobulins ingested by infants. One study found significantly lower breastmilk IgA in poorer rural Guatemalans compared to better‐off urban women (Cruz et al, 1982); on the other hand, lower socioeconomic status has been associated with higher breastmilk IgA in US populations (Groer et al, 2004).…”

Section: Investment In Reproduction or Maintenance: A Life History Pementioning

confidence: 96%

The roles of the immune system in Women's reproduction: Evolutionary constraints and life history trade‐offs

Abrams

Miller

2011

American J Phys Anthropol

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Life history theory posits that, as long as survival is assured, finite resources are available for reproduction, maintenance, and growth/storage. To maximize lifetime reproductive success, resources are subject to trade-offs both within individuals and between current and future investment. For women, reproducing is costly and time-consuming; the bulk of available resources must be allocated to reproduction at the expense of more flexible systems like immune function. When reproducing women contract infectious diseases, the resources required for immune activation can fundamentally shift the patterns of resource allocation. Adding to the complexity of the reproductive-immune trade-offs in women are the pleiotropic effects of many immune factors, which were modified to serve key roles in mammalian reproduction. In this review, we explore the complex intersections between immune function and female reproduction to situate proximate immunological processes within a life history framework. After a brief overview of the immune system, we discuss some important physiological roles of immune factors in women's reproduction and the conflicts that may arise when these factors must play dual roles. We then discuss the influence of reproductive-immune trade-offs on the patterning of lifetime reproductive success: (1) the effect of immune activation/infectious disease on the timing of life history events; (2) the role of the immune system, immune activation, and infectious disease on resource allocation within individual reproductive events, particularly pregnancy; and (3) the role of the immune system in shaping the offspring's patterns of future life history trade-offs. We close with a discussion of future directions in reproductive immunology for anthropologists.

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Section: Investment In Reproduction or Maintenance: A Life History Pementioning

confidence: 96%

The roles of the immune system in Women's reproduction: Evolutionary constraints and life history trade‐offs

Abrams

Miller

2011

American J Phys Anthropol

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“…For instance, if offspring request more care, they may perform more nutritive and non‐nutritive suckling bouts that would, in turn, promote extra maternal care through extra maternal production of prolactin. In contrast, mothers that deteriorate in condition may experience difficulty in nursing offspring (Brussow et al. 1996), and by preventing offspring to suckle their teats, mothers may reduce prolactin concentration and thereby related maternal behaviour (Bridges et al.…”

Section: Why Did Natural Selection Not Favour a Less Costly Mechanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Neuroendocrine Function of Allosuckling

Roulin

2003

Ethology

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In mammals, females occasionally nurse offspring that are not their own. The function of allosuckling for foster females remains puzzling given that lactation is energetically costly and augments the risk of pathogen transmission. Current hypotheses suggest that allosuckling is not adaptive resulting from misguided parental behaviour, females reciprocate by nursing each other's offspring, females nurse preferentially related offspring for inclusive fitness benefits, females involved in allosuckling events evacuate extra milk or improve their maternal skills. These hypotheses received only little empirical evidence, and a recent review suggested that they are not mutually exclusive and do not exclude alternatives. Based on the established fact that teat stimulation by neonates leads to an elevated production of prolactin, I develop the hypothesis called ‘neuroendocrine function of allosuckling’ (NFA). The hypothesis postulates that the nursing of alien offspring allows females to increase and/or maintain prolactin concentration in the case own offspring do not stimulate their teats enough. This neurohormone enhances immunocompetence, the immunological quality and the quantity of milk whilst reducing female's fertility. The NFA suggests that via teat stimulation by the genetic offspring, and if necessary by foster ones, females can optimally adjust prolactin concentration, as both hypo‐ and hyper‐prolactinaemia entail physiological and immunological costs. The hypothesis does not only provide an explanation as to why females may nurse alien offspring but is also useful to understand the consequences of allosuckling. Indeed, even if mothers do not nurse alien offspring to control their prolactin production, allosuckling will alter the concentration of this crucial neurohormone.

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“…34 A study comparing breast milk from Zairian malnourished women with healthy controls found comparable secretory IgA (sIgA) antibody titres against rotavirus, respiratory syncytial virus, Escherichia coli, S. pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae but an approximately 30% decrease in the amount of breast milk. 35 Hence, the quantity of antibodies and innate factors delivered to the newborn in maternal milk was reduced. When lactoferrin, lysozyme and sIgA levels were serially evaluated in breast milk from mothers with healthy babies and mothers with septicaemic babies, the breast milk from mothers with healthy babies had rapidly declining sIgA titres that were replaced by lactoferrin and lysozyme (blocks bacterial binding and lyses bacterial cell walls).…”

Section: Maternal Malnutritionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A study comparing breast milk from Zairian malnourished women with healthy controls found comparable secretory IgA (sIgA) antibody titres against rotavirus, respiratory syncytial virus, Escherichia coli , S. pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae but an approximately 30% decrease in the amount of breast milk 35 . Hence, the quantity of antibodies and innate factors delivered to the newborn in maternal milk was reduced.…”

Section: Impact Of Maternal Health On Childhood Immunitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Do multiple concurrent infections in African children cause irreversible immunological damage?

et al. 2012

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Summary Much of the developing world, particularly sub‐Saharan Africa, has high levels of morbidity and mortality associated with infectious diseases. The greatest risk of invasive disease is in the young, the malnourished and HIV‐infected individuals. In many regions in Africa these vulnerable groups and the wider general population are under constant immune pressure from a range of environmental factors, under‐nutrition and multiple concurrent infections from birth through to adulthood. Intermittent microbial exposure during childhood is required for the generation of naturally acquired immunity capable of protection against a range of infectious diseases in adult life. However, in the context of a resource‐poor setting, the heavy burden of malarial, diarrhoeal and respiratory infections in childhood may subvert or suppress immune responses rather than protect, resulting in sub‐optimal immunity. This review will explore how poor maternal health, HIV exposure, socio‐economic and seasonal factors conspire to weaken childhood immune defences to disease and discuss the hypothesis that recurrent infections may drive immune dysregulation, leading to relative immune senescence and premature immunological aging.

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Effect of malnutrition on serum and milk antibodies in Zairian women

Cited by 13 publications

References 27 publications

The roles of the immune system in Women's reproduction: Evolutionary constraints and life history trade‐offs

The roles of the immune system in Women's reproduction: Evolutionary constraints and life history trade‐offs

The Neuroendocrine Function of Allosuckling

Do multiple concurrent infections in African children cause irreversible immunological damage?

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