1. Analysis of DNA damage using the comet assay in infants fed cow's milk.
- Author
-
Dündaröz R, Ulucan H, Aydin HI, Güngör T, Baltaci V, Denli M, and Sanisoğlu Y
- Subjects
- Animals, Breast Feeding, Cattle, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Neoplasms genetics, Comet Assay, DNA Damage, Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena, Milk adverse effects
- Abstract
It has been hypothesized that non-human milk feeding may increase the risk for cancer or for a specific cancer or group of cancers as well as the risk for diseases such as type-1 diabetes mellitus and Crohn's disease. Regarding DNA damage leading to cancer development in the absence of human milk protection, a comparison between infants fed human milk and cow's milk has been performed. Each group consisted of 35 infants, whose ages ranged from 9 to 12 months. The level of DNA damage in the peripheral blood lymphocytes of infants has been studied by the comet assay. A significant increase has been found in the number of limited DNA-damaged (p < 0.001) and extensive DNA-damaged (p < 0.001) cells of infants fed cow's milk. To our knowledge, this is the first study using the comet assay on infants not breast-fed. Supporting our previous SCE study, these results suggest that there is some level of DNA damage in the lymphocytes of infants not breast-fed and this may lead to malignancy in childhood or later in life., (Copyright 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel)
- Published
- 2003
- Full Text
- View/download PDF