Maternal Allergy and the Presence of Nonhuman Proteinaceous Molecules in Human Milk

• Published in: Nutrients 2020-04, Vol.12 (4), p.1169
• Main Authors: Dekker, Pieter M, Boeren, Sjef, Wijga, Alet H, Koppelman, Gerard H, Vervoort, Jacques J M, Hettinga, Kasper A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Allergens; Allergens - immunology; Allergies; Animals; Asthma; Breast Feeding; Breast milk; Cattle; Data analysis; Dust; Female; Food Hypersensitivity - immunology; Humans; Hypersensitivity; Identification methods; Immune system; Immunological tolerance; Infant; Intestine; Lactoglobulin; Lactoglobulins - analysis; Lactoglobulins - immunology; Lactoglobulins - metabolism; Mass spectrometry; Milk; Milk - chemistry; Milk Hypersensitivity - immunology; Milk, Human - chemistry; Milk, Human - metabolism; Mothers; Peptides; Proteins; Questionnaires; Scientific imaging; Serum proteins; Trypsin; β-Lactoglobulin
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu12041169

Human milk contains proteins and/or protein fragments that originate from nonhuman organisms. These proteinaceous molecules, of which the secretion might be related to the mother's allergy status, could be involved in the development of the immune system of the infant. This may lead, for example, to sensitization or the induction of allergen-specific tolerance. The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between maternal allergy and the levels of nonhuman proteinaceous molecules in their milk. In this study, we analysed trypsin-digested human milk serum proteins of 10 allergic mothers and 10 nonallergic mothers. A search was carried out to identify peptide sequences originating from bovine or other allergenic proteins. Several methods were applied to confirm the identification of these sequences, and the differences between both groups were investigated. Out of the 78 identified nonhuman peptide sequences, 62 sequences matched proteins. Eight peptide sequences of bovine β -lactoglobulin had significantly higher levels in milk from allergic mothers than in milk from nonallergic mothers. Dietary bovine β -lactoglobulin may be absorbed through the intestinal barrier and secreted into human milk. This seems to be significantly higher in allergic mothers and might have consequences for the development of the immune system of their breastfed infant.