title: Quantitative and qualitative assay of rubella IgA antibody in breast milk.
abstract: Breast milk contains immunological factors, such as IgA antibody, which help to prevent infectious diseases. A total of 197 paired samples of colostrum and breast milk was collected from postpartum mothers in Gunma City, Japan, and examined for anti-rubella IgA antibody by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blotting (WB). The anti-rubella virus IgA ranged from 0.5 to 78.5 U/ml with a mean of 6.05 U/ml and a median of 3.6 U/ml in colostrum, and from 0.5 to 32.7 U/ml with a mean of 2.74 U/ml and a median of 2 U/ml in milk. The differences between the means of titers of total IgA and anti-rubella virus IgA in colostrum and in milk were significant statistically. The levels of anti-rubella virus IgA in both colostrum and breast milk correlated positively with the anti-rubella virus hemagglutination inhibition (HI) titers in the sera of mother, indicating that the levels of these different classes of antibodies correlated. Based on WB, anti-rubella virus IgA in both colostrum and breast milk reacted with the rubella viral protein E1 and C, but not with the E2 protein.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Science, Gunma Paz College, Gunma, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hayakawa
authors.forename: Yumei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mizuguchi
authors.forename: Teryl K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Frey
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ushijima
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D015153:Blotting, Western; D003126:Colostrum / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006385:Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests; D006801:Humans; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000032:analysis*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007564:Japan; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012412:Rubella virus / Q000276:immunology*; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D014758:Viral Core Proteins; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C074573:nucleocapsid protein (C), rubella virus; C061826:E1 envelope protein, Rubella virus; C061827:E2 envelope protein, Rubella virus