Anne, has your baby actually been diagnosed with deficiencies of any 
immunoglobulins?

One thing that came to mind is IgA-deficiency. This is relatively 
common in many people who do not know they have it. Their bodies 
compensate by increasing other classes of immunoglobulins and they 
live normal healthy lives. However, sometimes it can impact on 
health. It also is inherited, so is seen to run in families.

It would be interesting to know not only if your baby is deficient in 
IgA or any other class of immunoglobulins but also whether *you* are 
as well. I understand that mothers who are IgA-deficient produce a 
lot of IgG antibodies in their milk compared to normal women, to 
compensate. However, these do not have quite the same adaptation of 
structure to resist digestive forces in the baby's gut. I don't know 
if any studies have been done on how effective these are inside the 
baby compared to the normal IgA antibodies.

I am sure whatever type of antibodies you are providing through you 
milk will be beneficial for your baby, in addition to the 
non-specific protective substances such as lactoferrin. These, 
including the immunoglobulins, not only act inside the gut but some 
are actually absorbed to work in your baby's tissues.

I am not sure about production of anti-IgA antibodies - I imagine it 
would be possible but unlikely.

Joy

-- 
******************************************************************
Joy Anderson B.Sc.(Zoology) Dip.Ed. Grad.Dip.Med.Tech. B.Sc.(Nutrition) IBCLC
Australian Breastfeeding Association counsellor
Perth, Western Australia.   mailto:[log in to unmask]
******************************************************************

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome