Determination of alpha-lactalbumin in human milk.
Alpha-lactalbumin is a major protein in human milk and of considerable nutritional importance to the infant. However, there are discrepancies in the literature on content of this protein in human milk, which indicate a need for a method that would permit estimation from a large number of samples. The technique of immunodiffusion was adopted for human alpha-lactalbumin. Purification of alpha-lactalbumin for production of antigen is described as is the statistical evaluation of the method. The alpha-lactalbumin contents of pooled human milk samples as well as of the milk from one mother during 2 mo of lactation were analyzed. The alpha-lactal-bumin content of human milk showed considerable variation. This variation and its relation to factors such as length of lactation, and nutritional status of the mother should be studied further.
D000596:Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis; D003126:Colostrum / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007768:Lactalbumin / Q000032:analysis*; D007774:Lactation; D008894:Milk Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000032:analysis*; D011247:Pregnancy
D000596:Amino Acids; D008894:Milk Proteins; D007768:Lactalbumin