Immunologic components in human milk and allergic diseases with focus on food allergy

Human milk contains a wide range of immunomodulatory factors, including immunoglobulins, human milk oligosaccharides, cytokines, microbiome, innate factors and food antigens. Mater-nal diet can influence the content of human milk as it is well-established that dietary antigens can be secreted in human milk after maternal consumption, but whether these dietary antigens promote tolerance or sensitization in the infant is a subject of debate. This review summarizes the current literature on these immunologically active factors in human milk, including the microbiome, innate factors, and maternal diet-derived dietary antigens in the context of devel-opment of allergic diseases, with the focus on food allergy. (c) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Maternal diet influences the composition of human milk, which contains various immunomodulatory factors, microbiome, and food antigens; these factors play a crucial role in the development of allergic diseases, especially food allergies.