T cells<\/a>,\u00a0support milk production.\u00a0Mammary T cells\u00a0also\u00a0have lasting effects on maternal health\u00a0and infant immunity.”\u00a0<\/p>\nRecently, research in both mouse models and human\u00a0milk\u00a0has transformed\u00a0our\u00a0understanding of\u00a0how different\u00a0immune cell\u00a0types contribute to\u00a0lactation. Historically, lactation-associated immune changes were thought to involve\u00a0mainly myeloid\u00a0cells, which\u00a0do\u00a0not\u00a0impact\u00a0milk production.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Several recent\u00a0studies\u00a0demonstrate that T cell subsets expand during lactation, with functions spanning mammary gland maturation and milk production\u00a0to long-term protection against breast cancer,” says author Abigail Jaquish\u00a0of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Research\u00a0shows that another potential function of these maternal T cells could be\u00a0protection\u00a0of the infant.\u00a0For example, the T cells found in milk may help shape a baby’s immune system, support healthy gut bacteria, and even provide direct immune protection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0team says\u00a0that understanding how the immune system supports lactation can provide insight into why breastfeeding is associated with long-term maternal benefits-such as reduced breast cancer risk-and how milk may influence infant growth and immune development. Studying immune regulation during lactation may also help explain why some individuals experience difficulties with milk production or infections\u00a0such as mastitis\u00a0and could\u00a0ultimately inform\u00a0strategies to improve maternal and infant health outcomes, they add.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many fundamental questions\u00a0in this field remain, however. Researchers still do not fully understand how different T cell subsets function during lactation, which microbial cues might\u00a0guide their recruitment to the mammary gland,\u00a0and\u00a0how\u00a0immune-epithelial communication\u00a0provides breast cancer protection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“On the infant side, we are only beginning to understand whether and how immune cells transferred through breast milk directly shape neonatal immune development,”\u00a0Ramanan\u00a0says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We hope\u00a0the advances in the field\u00a0resonate with clinicians and public health researchers by reframing lactation as an immune-driven process with long-term health implications,” Jaquish says. “We expect the review to spark new cross-disciplinary conversations and\u00a0highlight the need for increased focus on lactation in immunology research.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Source:<\/p>\n
Journal reference:<\/p>\n
Jaquish, A., & Ramanan, D. (2026). Got milk? how T cells shape lactation and beyond.\u00a0Trends in Immunology. DOI: 10.1016\/j.it.2026.01.007.\u00a0https:\/\/www.cell.com\/trends\/immunology\/fulltext\/S1471-4906(26)00010-4<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s\u00a0widely known that breastfeeding\u00a0impacts\u00a0the health of both mother and child, but the underlying biology that leads to these…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36902,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[83,2161,2991,1239,25257,258,3169,103,61,3176,2747,60,148725,89],"class_list":{"0":"post-319271","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-baby","9":"tag-bacteria","10":"tag-blood","11":"tag-breast-cancer","12":"tag-breastfeeding","13":"tag-cancer","14":"tag-cell","15":"tag-health","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-immune-system","18":"tag-immunology","19":"tag-ireland","20":"tag-mammary-gland","21":"tag-research"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}