Deep immunophenotyping of breast milk and maternal immunity over lactation

National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases

Investigators

Abstract

We initiated a clinical study at the NIH Clinical Center in which pregnant women will be enrolled and followed through lactation. Serial blood samples in pregnancy, and serial paired breast milk and blood samples during lactation will be collected. Saliva and stool from mothers and infants will also be collected. Two cohorts will be enrolled: 1) healthy women with a normal pre-pregnancy BMI and no chronic inflammatory conditions and 2) women with obesity (a chronic inflammatory condition) with an elevated pre-pregnancy BMI. Blood from non-pregnant women with and without obesity will be collected as controls. In the lab, we will use high dimensional flow cytometry, cellular indexing of transcriptomes and epitopes by sequencing (CITE-seq, which evaluates transcriptome/surface markers at the single cell level), and multiplexed protein (cytokines, chemokines, immunoglobulin) assays to perform deep immunophenotyping of serial breast milk and blood samples from “healthy” women. Obesity leads to chronic inflammation, but how this affects breast milk immunity is largely unknown. We will examine the how breast milk immune cells compare in the milk of normal weight and obese mothers. Lastly, we will examine how infant infection with common respiratory and GI viruses affects breast milk immunity.