>>why would cholesterol crystallize during a bout of mastitis?

Rather than lactation mastitis I'm pretty sure the cholesterol
crystals they refer to are debris which can often be found in
non-lactating conditions of the breast such as duct ectasia,
granulomatous mastitis and cholesterol granulomas (benign tumours
containing collagen bands and tightly packed cholesterol aggregates).

in duct ectasia there are dilated ducts filled with debris consisting
of (among other things) lipid laden cells and desquamated ductal
epithelial cells. A theory is when the dilated ducts rupture and
dispell the contents this leads to periductal inflammation and the
formation of granulomas (sometimes with lipid crystals forming)

In a slightly connected way however the lactating gland does produce
something called corpora amylacea which are granules formed by
phosphoproteins - they are well described in the milk of cows causing
ductal pathology and have also been seen in breastmilk. Some people
theorise they have a role in the pathology of conditions such as
blocked ducts and white spot.

Cathy Fetherston PhD IBCLC
Perth, Western Australia

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

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html