Dear Annelies and others: Annelies wrote: <<I'm looking for this in the textbooks (lawrence, akre, several article on the internet), but I cannot find this way of transfer of antigens. According to these books the sIgA production in the breast is triggered by antigen exposion at mucosal sites, eg in the mothers lungs, and intestines, and maybe her saliva etc. But not via her breats itself. Maybe someone can point me to the textbook or the research that shows that the transfer also happens directly from mouth to breast and there triggering sIgA production??>> The production of antibodies directly in the breast currently seems to be called "autoimmunization," at least in one study. Page 15 of the second edition of Breastfeeding and Human Lactation by Riordan and Auerbach states: "Artificially fed infants are denied the benefits of 'autoimmunization,' whereby the breast produces antibodies to organisms to which the infant has been exposed (Fishaut et al., 1981)." Fishaut, M., et al., Bronchomammary axis in the immune response to respiratory syncytial virus. J. Pediatr 99:186-9, 1981. Perhaps that reference would clarify the mechanism and/or synonyms for the process. Lurking and saving an introduction for another time (hopefully soon), Cynthia Good Mojab Ammawell Email: [log in to unmask] Web site: http://ammawell.homepage.com *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html