Researchers from the Salik Institute in the United States have discovered that immune cells are transmitted from the intestine to the mammary gland (tissue containing the glands responsible for milk production) to support the breastfeeding process.
The results of the study help explain the advantages of breastfeeding, finding new solutions for mothers who are unable to breastfeed their children naturally, and make food decisions that improve the production and quality of breast milk.
Breastfeeding carries well -known benefits for both the mother and the child, as it reduces the risk of breast and ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and at the same time supports the child’s feeding and immune system.
Immunology at the Salik Institute began to work to draw a map of immune cells before and during breastfeeding, and discovered that immune cells called T -cells are abundant in the mammary glands during pregnancy and breastfeeding, with some of them moving from the intestine, and these cells are likely to support both mother and child health.
The results of the study were published in the Nature Immunology Journal on July 29, and was written by the Yurik Alert website.
“By studying how immune cells change during pregnancy and lactation, we were able to discover many interesting things, most notably a significant increase in immune cells in breast tissue during breastfeeding, and this increase requires microbes.
Most breastfeeding studies focus on the relationship between the milk content and the health of the infant, and these studies have shown that children get the bacteria of the intestine and the important antibodies from their mothers through breast milk, which establishes an important basis for the growth of their immune system.
Immunus immunity from the intestine to the breast
The researchers started their study by examining the tissues of the mammals in the mice at various stages; By breastfeeding beyond, and by comparing these samples, they discovered an increase in the number of 3 different types of T -cells.
This caused the curiosity of the team, because these sub -types of T -cells belong to a special category of immune cells called lymphocytes inside the epithelium.
These cells live in mucous tissues, which are soft tissues such as the intestine or lungs exposed to materials from the outside world. Because these tissues are more at risk, lymphocytes work inside the epithelium as a resident immune cells stationed on the site and ready to work.
The researchers noted that these cells are lining the breast epithelium in the same way that the epithelium of other mucous tissues is lined, and these sub -types of T cells carry superficial protein fingerprints such as those that the cells resided in the intestine carry, indicating the migration of T cells between the intestine and mammary glands.
These changes combined contributed to facilitating the transmission of the mammary gland from a non -mucous tissue to mucous tissue in preparation for breastfeeding, as they are exposed to the outer environment, including microbes of the skin of the mother and the mouth of the infant.
But does this also happen in humans?
Research on human breast tissue databases and milk samples from the Institute of Human Milk at the University of California in San Diego, United States, revealed the answer, as the lymphocytes within the epithelium in humans showed the same changes.
The team returned to the mouse model with a final question: Is the cells of the T cells affected by microbes in the same way that they are affected in the intestine? They compared the mammary glands of mice that live in natural environments and in bacteria -free environments, and found that all the three sub -types of T -cells were more present in mice exposed to microbes in natural environments.
This result indicates that the mother’s microbes adjust the number of T cells that are produced during breastfeeding, which may affect its role in the strength of the mammal’s immune barrier.
In total, the production of T cells increased with the help of microbes, as the T cells were transferred from the intestine to the mammary glands, and the mammary glands turned from non -mucous tissues into mucous tissues.