Open Access

ARTICLE

Effect of maternal smoking on colostrum and breast milk cytokines

İbrahim Etem Pişkin¹, Hande Nur Karavar¹, Mehmet Araslı², Bahri Ermiş³

1 Bulent Ecevit University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Kozlu, Zonguldak, Turkey
2 Bulent Ecevit University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Immunology, Kozlu, Zonguldak, Turkey
3 Sakarya University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Saraya, Turkey

* Corresponding Author: İ. Etem Pişkin,

European Cytokine Network 2012, 23(4), 187-190. https://doi.org/10.1684/ecn.2013.0324

Accepted 10 September 2012;

Abstract

Background: Breast milk contains several immune modulator components. The transfer of numerouscytokines via mother’s milk may add to an active stimulation of the infant’s immune system. There are many factorsin breast milk that could either facilitate or inhibit cytokine activities. Smoking negatively influences the immunesystem and changes the concentrations of important cytokines. Objective: The objective of this study was to assessthe effect of smoking during pregnancy on the cytokines found in colostrum and mature human milk. Methods: Thestudy population included 25 smoker and 27 non-smoker nursing mothers who gave birth to a term healthy infantvia cesarean section. Breast milk was collected from the mothers on the 2nd-3rd and 21st-25th days postpartumduring visits to examine the newborns. Samples were analyzed for IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-α and TNF-β cytokines byflow cytometric bead array. Results: Wefirst saw that concentrations of IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4,IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IFN-γ, TNF-α, and TNF-β cytokines, but not IL-12, were measurable both in colostrumand in mature milk, being higher in colostrum. Next we observed that IL-1β and IL-8 levels were significantly lowerin colostrum, and IL-6 was found to be significantly lower in the mature milk of smoking mothers. No significanteffects of maternal smoking on breast milk concentrations of IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, IFN-γ, TNF-α, and TNF-β were observed. Conclusions: Thesefindings indicate that maternal smoking alters the colostrum and mature milklevels of some cytokines. Therefore, it is thought that active smoking during pregnancy decreases the concentrationof certain cytokines in breast milk, which might account for the newborn’s increased susceptibility to infections.

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Keywords

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