Antigen-driven immunoglobulin production by human colostral lymphocytes

It has long been recognized that human milk contains substantial quantities of secretory IgA which is elaborated by plasma cells located proximal to the ductal epithelium. The presence of lymphocytes, granulocytes and macrophages in the milk itself raises the question of whether these “shed” milk cells might potentially serve a function with regard to protecting the suckling neonate from infection. The functionality of milk B-lymphocytes has remained particularly controversial. In this report, we describe the use of a novel technique of milk cell separation prior to cell culture and demonstrate the ability of colostral B-lymphocytes to elaborated immunoglobulin in response to antigenic stimulation using vaccine strain polio virus.