Disadvantages Of Breast Milk

Over the decades the evidence has been undisputable, breast milk is the best nutrition that newborn can be fed on. It offers numerous advantages to both the mother and the infant. For the newborn, it provides all the energy and nutrients needed for the first few months of life (the World Health Organization recommends that an infant be breastfed immediately after birth and exclusively for 6 months). In, addition, it aids the newborn child’s cognitive and sensory development, offers immunity against infectious and chronic illnesses and leads to faster recuperation in case of any illness. In fact, exclusive breastfeeding reduces infant mortality rates caused by common infant diseases such as diarrhea and pneumonia. For the mother, it adds to

Also, the concentration remained at higher levels in 3-5 day old pups after they were administered oral oxytocin than in the saline controls.

Plasma oxytocin concentration in mice that were administered with the oxytocin injection in the intestines was found to decrease. However, the decrease was seen by researchers to be due to intestinal barriers and/or digestive development rather than a reflection of the decrease in the total amount of oxytocin absorption.

On the other hand, mice whose RAGE gene was knocked out and later orally administered with oxytocin had an increase in oxytocin concentration in the blood on postnatal days 1-3. However, this decreased on postnatal day 4. In RAGE, knockout pups oxytocin concentration in the blood after oral administration was found to drop suddenly in postnatal day 4 and there were no subsequent differences in the oxytocin concentration

After the completion of gut closure, the wild-type mice expressing RAGE could ingest oxytocin. The researchers interpreted that on postnatal days 7-8 oxytocin was enzymatically cleaved but could not be absorbed in its intact form.

In addition, adult mice which were administered with a similar oral oxytocin dose as the neonates were found to have no increase in their plasma oxytocin concentrations. However, after a tenfold increase of the oral dosage, there was a significant increase in plasma oxytocin in the wild-type mice. The oxytocin was observed to increase linearly as a function of the dose applied directly to the intestine, while the RAGE knockout mice had significantly lower levels.

A mass spectrometry analysis by the researchers confirmed that oxytocin was transported into the blood in its intact form. A separate immunohistochemical study also established that RAGE molecules expressed themselves on the surface of intestinal epithelial cells.

This study has shown that some intestinal cells express RAGE which is responsible for absorption of oxytocin from the gut into the blood. Therefore, oxytocin is ingested by a specific molecular mechanism, and it can be orally administered as a medication and a