Lactobacilli will protect babies from HIV-infected breast milk
A technology has been created to prevent infection of children with the human immunodeficiency virus during breastfeeding, a group of researchers from Lavax and the University of Illinois announced on Thursday at the congress of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) in Toronto.HIV transmission routes include breastfeeding, in which the virus passes from mother to infant. This is a particularly important problem for many regions of Africa where HIV-positive mothers do not have alternatives to breastfeeding. Until now, there was no practical and effective method that could prevent the transmission of the virus in this way.
According to the association, a group of researchers has identified a special strain of lactobacilli living in the human oral cavity. They are similar to other lactobacilli found in dairy products such as yogurt and kefir.
This type of bacteria captures HIV viruses by attaching them to its outer shell. Since these bacteria grow and multiply in milk, it is enough to vaccinate a baby once to provide him with protection from infection until the end of the breastfeeding period.
However, the hot climate and the lack of refrigeration units in Africa pose a serious problem for the storage of drugs based on these bacteria.
Currently, the best substances that preserve lactobacilli are sucrose and trehalose. These substances retain dried lactobacilli at temperatures from 4 to 20 degrees Celsius. However, at a higher temperature – 33 degrees – even these substances did not help. The bacteria died after four weeks.
However, scientists have managed to find a substance that can protect a strain of lactobacilli that protects against HIV for more than 12 weeks at a temperature of 33 degrees. The study showed that after this period, they retained their ability to capture viruses.