Lipids found in breast milk accumulate in the fat of nursing babies. In the fat tissue, the macrophages metabolize the lipids into the signaling lipid platelet-activating factor (PAF). PAF stimulates the macrophages to release interleukin 6, which maintains fat cells in a heat-producing state called beige adipocytes. Credit: The left image is from “Mary Cassatt, 1898 — Louise nursing her child”. The right image shows a macrophage (blue) surrounded by beige fat cells. Compilation by Nancy R. Gough, BioSerendipity, LLC
Read more:
N. R. Gough, Signal or Nutrient: Breast Milk Lipids in Macrophages. BioSerendipity (December 2019) https://www.bioserendipity.com/signal-or-nutrient-breast-milk-lipids-in-macrophages
N. R. Gough, Researchers Find a Special Lipid that Controls Fat Development in Babies. Medium (18 October 2019).