Breast milk composition and bile salt-stimulated lipase in well-nourished and under-nourished Nigerian mothers.

Breast milk was analysed in 9 under-nourished Nigerian mothers and 23 well-nourished mothers who served as controls. Milk from the under-nourished mothers contained adequate amounts of lactose and total triglycerides, but had significantly lower bile salt-stimulated lipase activity (BSSL); their mean BSSL activity was only about 50% of the activity in milk from the control group. Total milk protein was also significantly lower than for the controls (1.45 vs. 1.09 g/dl, respectively; P less than 0.01). Our findings may have nutritional implications for breast-fed infants of under-nourished nursing mothers.