Cytokine Profile of Mature Milk From Smoking and Nonsmoking Mothers

We verified whether smoking during lactation influences breast milk cytokine (interleukin [IL]-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor-α) levels 30 to 32 days after delivery. The study group comprised 24 postpartum women who declared smoking >5 cigarettes per day. The control group included 45 nonsmoking postpartum women. Compared with nonsmoking women, smokers were characterized by significantly higher breast milk concentrations of IL-1α (P = 0.04), whereas no significant intergroup differences were observed in terms of remaining analyzed cytokines. Moreover, both groups were characterized by a similar fraction of women with detectable cytokine levels.