title: Concentration of eight trace minerals in milk and sera of mother-infant pairs in northern Nigeria.
abstract: Breastmilk from 15 healthy lactating women (21-31 years of age) from the hot, semi-arid sahel of Africa were analysed for copper, iron, zinc, magnesium, manganese, sodium, potassium, and phosphorus. Relative to published data from other populations worldwide, the milk of the Jos women appeared to contain adequate levels of magnesium, manganese, sodium, potassium, phosphorus and iron, but relatively low concentrations of zinc (1.07 micrograms/ml) and copper (170 micrograms/l). The sera of the exclusively breastfed infants nursed by these mothers contained levels of all these minerals that are within the international reference range of values. No statistically significant correlation was observed between the level of a particular mineral in the mothers' milk and the sera of their nursing infants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. Okolom@unijos.edu.ng
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Okolo
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Onwuanaku
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okonji
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: VanderJagt
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Millson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Churchwell
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Glew
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008670:Metals / Q000097:blood; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry*; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000097:blood; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D008670:Metals; D014131:Trace Elements; D010758:Phosphorus