ADIPO NECTIN IN HUMAN MILK

Adiponectin in human milk!
High concentrations of circulating adipo-
nectin have positive health effects through the reduction of proinflammatory cyto-
kines, improvement of insulin sensitivity,
and increase in fatty-acid metabolism.
Recently, Martin et al.
12
reported that adi-
ponectin is present in human milk and is
associated with maternal factors. The
concentration of adiponectin in milk is
much lower than in the serum, but ap-
pears to have biological significance for
breastfeeding infants. Previous studies
have shown that milk components are not
often degraded in the stomach, in part
because the composition of human milk
forms a protective environment for pro-
teins and in part because of the reduced
acidity of the infant stomach and limited
gastric proteolysis. Second, physiologi-
cal actions of adiponectin could be im-
portant in developing infants. Because
adiponectin has been shown to increase
insulin sensitivity, it may also augment
the action of insulin in the gut of infants.
Adiponectin may also have direct effect
on the gut of infants, because previous
studies have documented that adiponectin
receptor 1 is expressed in foetal small in-
testine
13
. Bronsky et al.
14
have reported
that concentrations of adiponectin, adipo-
cyte fatty acid-binding protein, and epi-
dermal fatty acid-binding protein in human
breast milk are related to nutritional
variables of mothers and newborns, and
thus may play a role in the protective ef-
fects of breastfeeding. Since circulatory
adiponectin levels were demonstrated to
be lower in Asian Indians with metabolic
syndrome
15
, it would be interesting to
know the milk adiponectin levels and
their physiological role in Indians. In this
context, long-term follow-up studies are
needed to assess the development of
symptoms of metabolic diseases in rela-
tionship to adiponectin breast-milk con-
centrations