Postnatal Leptin Levels Correlate with Breast Milk Leptin Content in Infants Born before 32 Weeks Gestation.

Perinatal leptin deficiency and reduced intake of mother’s milk may contribute to the development of childhood obesity. Preterm infants have reduced leptin production, and they are at heightened risk of neonatal leptin deficiency. Because fresh human milk contains significantly more leptin than donor milk, we used a cross-over design to determine if blood leptin levels in maternal milk-fed preterm infants fall during conversion to donor human milk.

Pituitary Glycoprotein Hormones in Human Milk before and after Pasteurization or Refrigeration.

Our aims were to investigate the presence of pituitary glycoprotein hormones in preterm and donor milk, and to examine the effects of Holder pasteurization and refrigeration on the levels of these hormones. We measured follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in milk samples from mothers who delivered prematurely ( = 27) and in samples of mothers who delivered at term and donated milk to the Mother's Milk Bank of Iowa ( = 30). The gonadotropins and TSH were present in similar amounts within human milk produced for preterm and term infants.

Hormone levels in preterm and donor human milk before and after Holder pasteurization.

Background: After birth, breastfeeding is the exclusive source of hormonal signaling between mother and infant. Hospitalized infants often receive donor milk when their own mother's milk is unavailable.

Methods: The presence of insulin, leptin, cortisol, progesterone, and testosterone was examined in samples from milk bank donors and mothers of preterm infants.