New findings once again support the high importance of breastfeeding in newborns. A study by the University of Birmingham and the NHS Foundation has shown how and why breastfed babies develop a stronger, long-term immune system.
The benefits of breastfeeding for infant health and adulthood are already known, and recent research has shown that infants who receive breast milk are less likely to develop asthma, obesity and autoimmune diseases in their lifetime than those fed exclusively with formula milk. However, the immunological mechanisms responsible for these beneficial health effects were not known until now.
In this new study, the results of which were published in the journal Allergy, researchers first discovered that a specific type of immune cells, called regulatory T cells, expand in the first three weeks of life in breastfed babies and are nearly double that of formula-fed babies. These cells also control the baby’s immune response against the mother’s cells transferred through the mother’s milk and help reduce inflammation.
The research – supported by the Surgical and Microbiology Research Center (NIHR SRMRC) of the National Institute for Health Research – also showed that specific bacteria, called Veillonella and Gemella, which support regulatory T cell function, are more abundant in the gut of breastfed babies.
‘The influence that the type of milk received has on the development of the immune response had not yet been studied during the first weeks of a baby’s life,’ said study author Gergely Toldi, a researcher at the University of Birmingham and neonatologist at the Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust. ‘Prior to our research, the exceptional importance and early influence this specific cell type has in breastfed infants was unknown. We hope that this invaluable new insight will lead to increased breastfeeding so that more babies can benefit from the benefits of breast milk, “says the researcher, adding that” these results will help optimize the composition of infant formula to make the most of these. immunological mechanisms “.
The study is the culmination of a three-year research project that analyzed data collected from the observation of 38 mothers and their babies. Small amounts of blood and stool samples were collected at birth at Birmingham Women’s Hospital and then again, during home visits, when the babies were three weeks old. Sixteen of the 38 infants (42%) were exclusively breastfed for the duration of the study, while nine received mixed feeding and thirteen infants were exclusively formula fed.
Researchers now consider continuing to study this biological mechanism in sick infants and premature babies who have developed inflammatory complications.
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