Desmosterol in human milk

Milk samples were collected from mothers at 2, 6, 12 and 16 weeks postpartum. Desmosterol was found to be present in all the milk samples. Identification of desmosterol was based on retention times with two gas liquid chromatography (GLC) columns and verified by GC-mass spectrometry. The concentration of desmosterol in breast milk increased significantly (P less than .05) from 0.6 mg/100 ml at 2 weeks to 1.3 mg/100 ml at 16 weeks postpartum. Desmosterol was not significantly correlated with total lipid, total Cholesterol or free Cholesterol in the milk.