EFFECT OF MALNUTRITION ON SERUM AND MILK ANTIBODIES IN ZAIRIAN WOMEN

Serum and human milk antimicrobial antibody titers wore measured longi tudinally in 17 malnourished and 14 control Zairian women during 6 to 18 months of lactation to test whether malnutrition is specifically as sociated with an impaired secretory antibody response, No decreases in total serum and human milk immunoglobulin concentrations, neutralizin g antibody titers against rotavirus, or specific enzyme-linked immunos orbent assay antibody titers against rotavirus, respiratory syncytial virus, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Haemophilus inf luenzae were detected when malnourished women were compared with contr ol women. Malnutrition had no effect on circulating and secretory anti body concentrations in Zairian women. Daily human milk outputs, howeve r, were about 30% lower in malnourished than in control women, resulti ng in a correspondingly lower ingestion of immunoglobulins by the chil dren of malnourished women.