Analysis of DNA damage using the comet assay in infants fed cow's milk.
It has been hypothesized that non-human milk feeding may increase the risk for cancer or for a specific cancer or group of cancers as well as the risk for diseases such as type-1 diabetes mellitus and Crohn's disease. Regarding DNA damage leading to cancer development in the absence of human milk protection, a comparison between infants fed human milk and cow's milk has been performed. Each group consisted of 35 infants, whose ages ranged from 9 to 12 months. The level of DNA damage in the peripheral blood lymphocytes of infants has been studied by the comet assay. A significant increase has been found in the number of limited DNA-damaged (p < 0.001) and extensive DNA-damaged (p < 0.001) cells of infants fed cow's milk. To our knowledge, this is the first study using the comet assay on infants not breast-fed. Supporting our previous SCE study, these results suggest that there is some level of DNA damage in the lymphocytes of infants not breast-fed and this may lead to malignancy in childhood or later in life.
Dündaröz
Ruşen
R
Department of Medical Genetics, Medical School of Adnan Menderes University, Aydin, Turkey. rusenmd@excite.com
Ulucan
Hakan
H
Aydin
Halil Ibrahim
HI
Güngör
Tayfun
T
Baltaci
Volkan
V
Denli
Metin
M
Sanisoğlu
Yavuz
Y
D000818:Animals; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002417:Cattle; D020552:Comet Assay; D004249:DNA Damage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D008297:Male; D008892:Milk / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics