Original scientific paper

https://doi.org/10.20471/acc.2026.65.02.10

Breast Milk Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines Are Suppressed During Infant Infection and Show Heterogeneous Recovery in Convalescence

Dragica Pavlović ; Faculty of Medicine, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia; Department of Nursing and Palliative Medicine, Faculty of Dental Medicine and Health, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia; Osijek-Baranja County Health Center, Osijek, Croatia
Mario Štefanić ; Department of Nuclear Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
Mirjana Suver Stević ; Faculty of Medicine, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia; Laboratory of Molecular and HLA Diagnostics, Department of Transfusion Medicine, University Hospital Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
Saška Marzi ; Laboratory of Molecular and HLA Diagnostics, Department of Transfusion Medicine, University Hospital Osijek, Osijek, Croatia; Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Biochemistry and Clinical Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
Justinija Steiner ; Faculty of Medicine, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia; Osijek-Baranja County Health Center, Osijek, Croatia
Andreja Majić ; Osijek-Baranja County Health Center, Osijek, Croatia
Marta Pavlović ; Faculty of Medicine, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
Martina Mihalj ; Department of Dermatology and Venerology, University Hospital Osijek, Osijek, Croatia; Department of Dermatovenereology, Faculty of Medicine, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
Stana Tokić ; Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia *

* Corresponding author.

Abstract

Breast milk plays a pivotal role in maternal-infant immune communication. We
examined cytokine dynamics in 45 asymptomatic breastfeeding mothers: 29
nursing infants with acute infection and 16 nursing healthy infants. All infants
were born at full term, with high Apgar scores, and the mothers had no clinical
or laboratory signs of inflammation. Milk samples were collected 3–5 days after
the onset of infant illness and 4–6 weeks later during convalescence. Cytokine
concentrations (IFN‑γ, IL‑1β, IL‑17A, IL‑4, IL‑6, and TNF‑α) were measured in the
aqueous phase of breast milk using Human HS ProcartaPlex™ Mix&Match assay.
Only IL‑6, IL‑1β, and TNF were consistently detectable. In the mothers of ill infants,
pro‑inflammatory cytokines, particularly IL‑6, were markedly suppressed
during acute infection and correlated with elevated infant C‑reactive protein levels.
Cytokine recovery during convalescence was heterogeneous: IL‑6 rebounded
in younger mothers and in infants with milder leukocytosis, but recovery
was blunted in older mothers and in cases of pronounced infant inflammation.
TNF restoration was more frequent in early lactation, suggesting an influence
of lactation stage. These findings reveal that breast milk cytokine responses are
dynamically regulated by both infant inflammatory status and maternal characteristics,
highlighting an adaptive mechanism of immune communication
during lactation.

Keywords

Breastfeeding; Infant; Infection; Cytokines

Hrčak ID:

347695

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/347695

Publication date:

10.6.2026.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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