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Subject:
From:
"Julia R. Barrett" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 1 Aug 2004 08:17:42 -0500
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>Kermaline J. Cotterman posted:
>If the lab tech analyzed it, and then if you could get him to analyze
>several more mothers' samples of colostrum, what a great thing for you to
>do to publish it as a small study, so the question would be "evidenced
>based" in the future! "Rusty pipes" would be a less exact answer then! I
>suppose if the RBC are broken down, then microscopic analysis wouldn't be
>of any particular value would it? At least, couldn't he have done an
>occult blood test? Would heme show up on that???

The mention of RBCs and the color green triggered a memory from my grad
school days, when heme biosynthesis and degradation were closer to the
forefront of my mind.

Heme (contained in hemoglobin) is the substance that gives RBCs their
color, and its breakdown is a multi-hued event. As it degrades, the heme
molecule goes through several transformations. I don't recall each one, but
the ultimate product is bilirubin, which is yellow; the form just before
that is biliverdin, which is green. The course of heme degradation can be
seen as a bruise heals from the red of a fresh bruise, through the
transitional violets and greens of a healing bruise, and finally the yellow
of a fading bruise.

I suspect that the varied colors of colostrum reflect the same process. I
think it'd be a relatively easy thing to measure given the existence of
blood tests for the same substances. Results might not explain how the
blood gets into the milk, but they'd at least provide an explanation for
the colors. They might also indicate how common rusty-pipe syndrome is;
even "normal" colostrum might have trace amounts of heme breakdown products
in it.

Incidentally, googling "rusty-pipe syndrome" turns up three pages of hits.
Barring a few plumbing-related pages, most of them have to do with
lactation. :-)

regards,
Julia

Julia R. Barrett
Freelance Science Writer & Editor
Madison, Wisconsin
608-238-8409; [log in to unmask]

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