Influence of breast feeding on subsequent reactivity to a related renal allograft

Abstract

In a previous report the hypothesis that exposure of the neonate to maternal allogeneic cells via the process of breast feeding would result in hyporesponsiveness to a subsequent maternal donor-related renal transplant was examined. Support for this hypothesis was obtained after correlating results of maternal donor-related renal transplantation with the breast feeding status of the transplant recipient. In the present report this observation has been expanded upon and it was asked if a history of breast feeding was associated with improved results in a different patient population (HLA semi-identical sibling donors). Breast-fed patients showed dramatic improvements in graft function rates compared to non-breast-fed counterparts at all intervals studied (P [les] 0.001). Because a history of breast feeding correlated with improved results after sibling donor as well as maternal donor transplantation, it was concluded that the breast feeding effect is not entirely specific for maternal antigens. These observations underscore the importance of breast feeding as a variable in clinical-related renal transplantation.