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Milk, Blood of Pregnant, Lactating Women have Abzymes; Normal Men, Women don't (Russian Academy Science-December 17, 2003)


"In human milk, we previously found catalytic antibodies (abzymes) catalyzing hydrolysis of DNA, RNA, NMP, NDP, and NTP, and also phosphorylation of proteins and lipids. In the present study, we have analyzed nuclease activities of antibodies in blood of women during pregnancy and lactation," scientists in Russia report.

"Blood of healthy male and female volunteers lacked catalytically active antibodies, whereas antibodies from blood of pregnant women hydrolyzed DNA and RNA and their relative activity varied over a wide range. Relative blood abzyme activities significantly increased after delivery and at the beginning of lactation.

"The highest abzyme activity was observed in blood of parturient women. Although the dynamics of changes in antibody DNase activity during pregnancy was rather individual for each woman, there was a common trend in the increase in antibody activity in the first and/or third trimester of the pregnancy," wrote V.N. Buneva and coauthors from the Russian Academy of Science.

The researchers concluded: "The DNase activity of IgG and IgM from blood of healthy pregnant women was 4-5 times less than that from pregnant women with pronounced autoimmune-thyroiditis."

Buneva and colleagues published their study in Biochemistry - Moscow (Dynamics of antibody nuclease activity in blood of women during pregnancy and lactation. Biochemistry (Mosc), 2003;68(8):890-900).

For more information, contact G.A. Nevinsky, Russian Academy Science, Siberian Branch, Novosibirsk Bioorganic Chemical Institute, Ul Lavrentieva 8, Novosibirsk 6300090, Russia.

The information in this article comes under the major subject areas of Human Milk, Abzymes, Hematology, Proteomics, Immunology, Endocrinology, Obstetrics, Lactation, and Women's Health. This article was prepared by Biotech Week editors from staff and other reports.

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