If immunoglobulins present in breast milk keep babies healthy, why don't they use it with AIDs patients?

Answer 1

The immunoglobulins present in the breast milk are passed on to the baby through passive immunity, meaning that whatever immunoglobulins the mother has aquired through the years will be passed on to her child and then the child will also be protected. As for AIDS patients and breast milk I'm not sure that it would work since 1. you would have to have many willing mothers to donate breast milk 2. i'm not sure that many AIDS patients would be willing to drink the milk and 3. even though a patient has AIDS they more than likely have all the immunoglobulins present that a person w/o AIDS would have. Also in order for the AIDS patient to receive immunoglobulins against AIDS (which I don't think have been isolated or even exist), the mother would have to have been exposed to AIDS herself in order for an antibody to be produced against it to be passed on through the milk.

Answer 2

In regards to hmpdds's answer, newborn babies' GI systems are set up to allow the passage and uptake of maternal Ig. Once a mammal has matured, however, you are right, the body's GI tract would break down these proteins before they would be absorbed. If they were injected into AIDS patients they may provide passive immunity but I think the problem in AIDS patients is that they have deficient T cells (a seperate process, kind of) from humoral immunity. So antibodies wouldn't be helpful.

Answer 3

AIDS patients are already sick. Their immune systems are badly compromised. A baby, born healthy, can use the antibodies in breast milk to boost immunities to those diseases and germs common to the particular baby's environment. The level of antibodies drops off after the first colostrum is spent. I don't know how long that is after the birth.

Answer 4

Aren't the immunoglobins only present in the colostrum, which is only manufactured for the first few days?

Moreover, good freakin' luck telling a new mother that she could choose to sacrifice her baby's immune system to possibly boost that of an AIDS patient, even if the woman is relatively tolerant otherwise.

Answer 5

It's bit more complicated than that.

Breast milk could be considered preventative medicine, so introducing it after a disease is contracted would be of little or no value. And I don't think any forty year old man is going to admit he puts breast milk on his bran-flakes.

Also, I don't know for sure, but I think HIV is a little bit stronger than immunoglobulins - it is a VIRUS after all, and viruses are very difficult to fight - they infect healthy cells, injecting their DNA into the nucleus, and reproducing. It's hard to fight something so small.

Answer 6

I think the benefits of breastmilk immunoglobulins are grossly overstated, since the antibodies would naturally be degraded immediately by stomach acids and enzymes. So, of course they'd never make it to the bloodstream, where they would possibly make a difference.

Answer 7

babies are said to be healthier when breast fed from
any disease, thats a preventive measure while patients with aids are not on prevent medicines but on curing medicine, there is as to date no medicine to cure but to slow down aids, may be in time to come , as germs taken from a cow infected with pox cured small pox so also the aids virus might just about be the virus to fight its own disease fire is usually fought with fire i wonder if researchers ever thought about that

Answer 8

Because the T cell's in aid's pations destroy the immunoglobulins. Or this would be happening.But seens baby's that don't have these killer T cell's it do's help them.

Answer 9

babies are set up to borrow the immune system of their mothers for 6 mo. with AIDS patients you could try it, but what immune system they have would most likely attact the IGG

Answer 10

I would assume it is for building a strong immune system from scratch. Once the immune system is week it is probably too late and doesn't work.