Breast feeding by Mennonite mothers may protect infants against allergic disorders: Study

Heredity is a strong determinant of an allergic constitution, environmental factors, including farming exposures in childhood, maternal farming exposures provide strong protection against allergic disease in their children; however, the effect of farming lifestyle on human milk (HM) composition is unknown.

Breast milk from Mennonite mothers is richer in neutral or beneficial bacteria, certain cytokines and fatty acids, and IgA antibodies important for defense against bacteria. Their milk may give babies a better protection against allergens in infancy and later in life, reveals a new study.The milk contained higher levels of antibodies against allergens compared with that of mothers in urban and suburban regions.

The findings of the study are published in Frontiers in Immunology.

The objective of the study was to characterize the maternal immune effects of Old Order Mennonite (OOM) traditional farming lifestyle when compared with Rochester (ROC) families at higher risk for asthma and allergic diseases using HM as a proxy.

The study included HM samples collected at median 2 months of lactation from 52 OOM and 29 ROC mothers were assayed for IgA1 and IgA2 antibodies, cytokines, endotoxin, HM oligosaccharides (HMOs), and targeted fatty acid (FA) metabolites. Development of early childhood atopic diseases in children by 3 years of age was assessed. In addition to group comparisons, systems level network analysis was performed to identify communities of multiple HM factors in ROC and OOM lifestyle.