Abstract
Lower incidence and attenuated severity of infections are among the benefits of breastfeeding (López-Alarcón et al. 1997). Breastfeeding also seems to protect against the anorexia that presents as a response to infections (Hoyle et al. 1980; Dickin et al. 1990; López-Alarcón et al. 2002), but underlying mechanisms are not well understood. The polyunsaturated fatty acid a-linolenic and its derivatives docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapenatenoic acid (EPA) may be involved in such protection because they participate in eicosanoid and cytokine synthesis that occurs during infection (Block etal. 1996; Calder 1997).
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López-Alarcón, M., García-Zuñiga, P., Del Prado, M., Garza, C. (2004). Breastfeeding Protects against the Anorectic Response to Infection in Infants. In: Pickering, L.K., Morrow, A.L., Ruiz-Palacios, G.M., Schanler, R.J. (eds) Protecting Infants through Human Milk. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 554. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4242-8_43
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4242-8_43
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