ArticlePloS one2015
Breastmilk-Saliva Interactions Boost Innate Immunity by Regulating the Oral Microbiome in Early Infancy.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
51 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Maternal and Neonatal Oral Microbiome Developmental Patterns and Correlated Factors: A Systematic Review-Does the Apple Fall Close to the Tree?International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Oral colostrum priming shortens hospitalization without changing the immunomicrobial milieu.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2017Trial
- Wet Nursing and Human Milk Sharing: Reviving Sustainable Systems to Prioritise Breastfeeding.Maternal & child nutrition · 2026Review
- Streptococcus mutans Growth Inhibition by the Probiotic Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG as an Additive to Infant Formula.International journal of paediatric dentistry · 2026Article
- Parity Influences the Immune Profile of Human Milk via Increased T Lymphocyte Content.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2025Article
- A Framework for Evaluation of New Processing Technologies in Human Milk Banking.Comprehensive reviews in food science and food safety · 2025Review
- Comparative Analysis of Breastfeeding and Infant Formulas: Short- and Long-Term Impacts on Infant Nutrition and Health.Food science & nutrition · 2025Review
- Expert consensus on the treatment of oral diseases in pregnant women and infants.International journal of oral science · 2025Review
- The Home as a Modulator of Milk Immunity: Association Between Domestic Factors and Immune Cell Populations in Human Breast Milk.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Sifting Through the Noise: Identifying Core Fundamentals of Healthy Eating Early in the Life Cycle.Current nutrition reports · 2025Review
- Hydrogen Peroxide: A Ubiquitous Component of Beverages and Food.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- The impact of breastfeeding on the preterm infant's microbiome and metabolome: a pilot study.Pediatric research · 2025Observational
- Breast milk-saliva interactions in shaping early mucosal immunity.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Investigating Milk Fat Globule Structure, Size, and Functionality after Thermal Processing and Homogenization of Human Milk.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Antimicrobial Properties of Colostrum and Milk.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Predictors of Human Milk Feeding and Direct Breastfeeding for Infants with Single Ventricle Congenital Heart Disease: Machine Learning Analysis of the National Pediatric Cardiology Quality Improvement Collaborative Registry.The Journal of pediatrics · 2023Article
- Immunomodulatory Effect of Infectious Disease of a Breastfed Child on the Cellular Composition of Breast Milk.Nutrients · 2023Article
- Gut Microbiota and Microbial Metabolism in Early Risk of Cardiometabolic Disease.Circulation research · 2023Review
- Ecologies, synergies, and biological systems shaping human milk composition-a report from "Breastmilk Ecology: Genesis of Infant Nutrition (BEGIN)" Working Group 2.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionXanthine oxidase (XO) is distributed in mammals largely in the liver and small intestine, but also is highly active in milk where it generates hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Adult human saliva is low in hypoxanthine and xanthine, the substrates of XO, and high in the lactoperoxidase substrate thiocyanate, but saliva of neonates has not been examined.
resultsMedian concentrations of hypoxanthine and xanthine in neonatal saliva (27 and 19 μM respectively) were ten-fold higher than in adult saliva (2.1 and 1.7 μM). Fresh breastmilk contained 27.3 ± 12.2 μM H2O2 but mixing baby saliva with breastmilk additionally generated >40 μM H2O2, sufficient to inhibit growth of the opportunistic pathogens Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella spp. Oral peroxidase activity in neonatal saliva was variable but low (median 7 U/L, range 2-449) compared to adults (620 U/L, 48-1348), while peroxidase substrate thiocyanate in neonatal saliva was surprisingly high. Baby but not adult saliva also contained nucleosides and nucleobases that encouraged growth of the commensal bacteria Lactobacillus, but inhibited opportunistic pathogens; these nucleosides/bases may also promote growth of immature gut cells. Transition from neonatal to adult saliva pattern occurred during the weaning period. A survey of saliva from domesticated mammals revealed wide variation in nucleoside/base patterns. DISCUSSION AND
conclusionDuring breast-feeding, baby saliva reacts with breastmilk to produce reactive oxygen species, while simultaneously providing growth-promoting nucleotide precursors. Milk thus plays more than a simply nutritional role in mammals, interacting with infant saliva to produce a potent combination of stimulatory and inhibitory metabolites that regulate early oral-and hence gut-microbiota. Consequently, milk-saliva mixing appears to represent unique biochemical synergism which boosts early innate immunity.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.