Effect of malnutrition on serum and milk antibodies in Zairian women.

Serum and human milk antimicrobial antibody titers were measured longitudinally in 17 malnourished and 14 control Zairian women during 6 to 18 months of lactation to test whether malnutrition is specifically associated with an impaired secretory antibody response. No decreases in total serum and human milk immunoglobulin concentrations, neutralizing antibody titers against rotavirus, or specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay antibody titers against rotavirus, respiratory syncytial virus, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Haemophilus influenzae were detected when malnourished women were compared with control women. Malnutrition had no effect on circulating and secretory antibody concentrations in Zairian women. Daily human milk outputs, however, were about 30% lower in malnourished than in control women, resulting in a correspondingly lower ingestion of immunoglobulins by the children of malnourished women.