Breast milk protects babies from allergies

More than one in four Italian children suffers from allergies. Breast milk has long been proposed as the first and fundamental prevention strategy to combat such diseases, but the clinical data on which scientists have relied so far appear, at times, discordant and the mechanisms of action still poorly defined.

CEINGE-Advanced Biotechnology researchers analyzed a population of 100 mothers from Campania, who were asked to donate a sample of milk in the first months of breastfeeding, and identified in it a compound capable of exerting a very powerful protective action against allergic diseases in children.

"It's called butyrate," explains Roberto Berni Canani, one of the leading experts in the field of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition, director of CEINGE's Laboratory of Immunonutrition and the Pediatric Allergology Program of the Department of Translational Medical Sciences at the University of Naples Federico II. It is a small, short-chain fatty acid, which is highly conserved in living species and can effectively regulate all the main defense mechanisms with regard to the occurrence of allergic diseases in young children. Receiving through breast milk daily high levels of butyrate is therefore a great advantage for the baby."

The study, carried out by Professor Berni Canani's group, in collaboration with researchers from theUniversity of Salerno, CNR andEvangelical Bethany Hospital, and published in the prestigious journal Allergy, the official organ of the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, also showed how butyrate levels in breast milk are influenced by maternal diet. "The more the mother follows a healthy diet rich in fiber and adherent to the Mediterranean Diet," says Berni Canani, "the higher the butyrate levels in breast milk.

The results obtained through this research could collectively explain the sometimes conflicting data in the literature on the effectiveness of breast milk in preventing baby allergies. "The effectiveness of breast milk," the expert clarifies, "is based on the content of immunoregulatory compounds it contains, such as butyrate. Increasing the concentration of this compound in breast milk, by modulating the maternal diet (for example, favoring the consumption of foods rich in plant fiber), could be an effective strategy to amplify the protective role of breast milk against the occurrence of allergic diseases."

But there is also another possibility: "The data from the study," Berni Canani points out, "reveal that butyrate, a natural and safe compound, can be used as an ingredient that can be added to formulas for infants who are not fortunate enough to receive breast milk, to promote allergy prevention in these individuals as well.