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The mucosal immune response is not fully developed at birth. Maternal milk helps the neonate to adapt to an independent extrauterine life because it provides passive immunity against infections and promotes immune homeostasis against harmful immune responses. TGF-β is a predominant cytokine present in breast milk that is known to be an important immune modulator. Maternal TGF-β and other cytokines could provide an important mechanism for modifying the infant immune system and for modulating gut mucosal immune responses during early infancy.
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Zhang et al. (2002) studied this question.
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