Abstract

IntroductionBreast milk intake facilitates neonatal growth, and its effect is assumed to last long into the adulthood. We recently reported that dietary phosphorus insufficiency reduces the ability of breast milk to promote infant growth in mice. However, how phosphorus confers this ability to milk is still unclear.MethodsTo address this issue, we performed biochemical and physiological comparisons of milk secreted from C57BL/6J mice fed a low-phosphorus diet (LPD) or a normal-phosphorus control diet.ResultsAlthough serum phosphorus concentration was decreased, the body weight of mother mice was unaffected. By contrast, infant body weight was significantly reduced, and dwarfism-like symptoms were observed in adulthood. Quantitative analysis revealed that the serum concentration of growth hormone (GH) was substantially reduced, and concomitantly insulin-like growth factor 1 and fibroblast growth factor 23 were decreased. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed ectopic fat accumulation in the livers of infant mice along with increased blood cholesterol level. Moreover, electron microscopy indicated fragility of the outer membrane of milk droplets.ConclusionsOur results suggest that phosphorus is essential for the formation of milk droplets, which function as a stimulator of growth factor secretion in infant offspring.

Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call