Do ambient temperature and humidity influence the breast-milk intake of babies?

AbstractSaliva and urine are the two main body fluids sampled when breast milk intake is measured with the 2H oxide dose-to-mother technique. However, these two body fluids may generate different estimates of breast milk intake due to differences in isotope enrichment. Therefore, we aimed to assess how the estimated amount of breast milk intake differs when based on saliva and urine samples and to explore whether the total energy expenditure of the mothers is related to breast milk output. We used a convenience sample of thirteen pairs of mothers and babies aged 2–4 months, who were exclusively breastfed and apparently healthy. To assess breast milk intake, we administered doubly labelled water to the mothers and collected saliva samples from them, while simultaneously collecting both saliva and urine from their babies over a 14-d period. Isotope ratio MS was used to analyse the samples for 2H and 18O enrichments. Mean breast milk intake based on saliva samples was significantly higher than that based on urine samples (854·5 v. 812·8 g/d, P = 0·029). This can be attributed to slightly higher isotope enrichments in saliva and to a poorer model fit for urine samples as indicated by a higher square root of the mean square error (14·6 v. 10·4 mg/kg, P = 0·001). Maternal energy expenditure was not correlated with breast milk output. Our study suggests that saliva sampling generates slightly higher estimates of breast milk intake and is more precise as compared with urine and that maternal energy expenditure does not influence breast milk output.

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Reliability and Validity of Swallows as a Measure of Breast Milk Intake in the First Days of Life

Journal of Human Lactation ◽

10.1177/0890334412451364 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 28 (4) ◽

pp. 483-489 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Denise Côté-Arsenault ◽

Thomas P. McCoy

Keyword(s):

Breast Milk ◽

Reliability And Validity ◽

Milk Intake

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Impact of Vitamins C and E Dietary Supplementation on Leukocyte Profile of Layer Hens Exposed to High Ambient Temperature and Humidity

Acta Veterinaria Brno ◽

10.2754/avb201079030377 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 79 (3) ◽

pp. 377-383 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Joachim Joseph Ajakaiye ◽

Alcides Perez-Bello ◽

Angel Mollineda-Trujillo

Keyword(s):

Vitamin E ◽

Vitamin C ◽

Ambient Temperature ◽

Harmful Effect ◽

Dietary Supplementation ◽

High Ambient Temperature ◽

Control Group ◽

Physiological Status ◽

Temperature And Humidity ◽

Layer Hens

A 30-day experiment involving 720 White Leghorn layer hens was carried out to evaluate the effects of vitamins C and E on leukocyte and heterophil/lymphocytes ratios of the layer hens during the natural summer conditions. The birds were divided into 4 groups, one control with basal diet and three experimental with diet supplemented with vitamin C, vitamin E, or combination of both vitamins. Each group was divided into 4 subgroups. Exposure of layer hens to 31 ± 3 °C and 33 ± 0 °C ambient temperature and 84.6% and 81.5% relative humidity during the experiment caused an increase in the value of temperature humidity index of 15.5 above the threshold value of 70 established for this species. Total white blood cells, lymphocytes, and eosinophil levels were significantly (p < 0.001) higher in all treated groups compared to control. Similarly, heterophil/lymphocyte ratios of 0.51, 0.52, and 0.50 for groups with diet supplemented with vitamin C, vitamin E and vitamins C + E, respectively, were significantly (p < 0.001) lower compared to 0.59 recorded in the control group. However, heterophil, basophil and monocyte values were significantly (p < 0.001) higher in the control group compared to all treated groups. The results of the present study showed that dietary supplementation of vitamins C and E, or their combination, reduces the harmful effect of high ambient temperature and humidity on the leukocyte indicators of exposed layer hens, thereby alleviating the stress imposed on their thermoregulatory mechanism and physiological status.

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