Breast milk lactoferrin levels in relation to maternal nutritional status.

Lactoferrin was measured in breast milk from Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australian women using an enzyme immunoassay. There was no diurnal variation in lactoferrin concentration or change in concentration between the beginning and end of a feed. Lactoferrin levels were significantly higher in the first 15 days postpartum than in the period after the 15th day. Regression analysis showed that in milk from Aboriginal women less than 15 days postpartum, higher concentrations of lactoferrin were associated with weight for height (WFH) greater than 90% and with increased parity. Comparable data were not available for Caucasian women. For Aboriginal and Caucasian women more than 15 days postpartum, lactoferrin concentrations were higher in women greater than 90% WFH. Other variables, such as parity, were not significant in the regression.