Secretary IgA levels in pharyngeal mucous among infants with different feeding methods at the age of 1-6 months

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Breast milk secretary immunoglobulin A (BMsIgA) has been thought to coat mucosal surface of gastrointestinal tract in recipient infants, protecting infants from invasion of pathogenic bacteria. It has been observed that the prevalence of respiratory tract infection in breastfed infant is also lower than that in formula-fed infant. We thought that surface of pharyngeal mucosa of recipient infants is also coated by BMsIgA as well as the surface of gastrointestinal tract in mucosa. In order to confirm this we estimated the level of sIgA in pharyngeal mucous among infants with different feeding methods.The mean and standard error of the ratio of sIgA/protein in breastfed (n=18), mixed-fed (n=l5) and formula-fed infants (n=8) were 0.055±0.010, 0.065±0.017 and 0.045±0.010 respectively. There was not significant difference in those values among infants with different feeding methods.The results showed that the levels of sIgA among infants with different feeding methods were not different. The speculation of BMsIgA binding and coating in the pharyngeal mucosa of recipient infants could not be confirmed quantitatively. Based on this preliminary study, we conclude that BMsIgA does not influence the level of sIgA of pharyngeal mucous in recipient infants.