More on neutrophils

Hey you're my captive audience. I love this stuff and I have to choose very carefully how much of this stuff I make my family listen to. Now, i have my outlet. How cool is that!

So here goes, your lesson on neutrophils in breastmilk...

So colostrum resembles pus because it has sooooooo many neutrophils. Under any other circumstances that number of neutrophils would cause acute inflammation redness, swelling, pain etc. Now some newly lactating moms feel that but it isn't the kind of response we would expect with that number of neutrophils. Not only that, that many active neutrophils dumped into the baby's gut should just about liquefy the lining of the baby's intestines. Obviously that would be a very very bad thing! So what's going on? Well, it turns out that those neutrophils are turned off my a very specific protein that is also in breastmilk. They don't work at all! not only that the protein that turns them off also turns off any neutrophils it comes into contact with effectively turning the volume way way down on that baby's inflammatory response to immune challenges. Normally inflammation is what makes us feel sick. It is the beginning of the healing process. And it is important for the healing process. Turning off the inflammatory response is what steroids do for people with autoimmune disorders. Which also leaves them more vulnerable to infections. (Just listen to the remicade commercials "This drug make make you more vulnerable to tuberculosis!" Let me run out and buy that one.)
But in a baby the turned down inflammatory response combined with the immunity protection of a while nother system in breastmilk means, get this, it's so cool, that babies can be exposed to some nasty germs, generate an immune response, acquire some level of immunity for a lifetime, WITHOUT EVER FEELING SICK!!!!!!! One study done in Mexico found the shigella bacteria in the diapers of breastfed babies who were just as happy as could be. Shigella is a bit like e. Coli, makes you very very sick and is life-threatening for most infants. A baby with shigella in it's diapers should be so really really sick but these babies weren't. So breastfed babies have this window when their immune systems seem to be open to challenge without the baby actually getting sick from it. That is really really amazing!

So now are you just thrilled with your baby's breakfast, neutrophils and all!