Heat Susceptibility of Interleukin-10 and Other Cytokines in Donor Human Milk

Abstract

Holder pasteurization greatly decreased concentrations of EPO and IL-10 in human milk. These decreases may impact the ability of human milk to protect against necrotizing enterocolitis. Evidence of possible binding of IL-10 to other proteins in human milk was also found. Experiments to test whether Holder pasteurization affects the function of IL-10 in human milk produced evidence for an agent in human milk other than IL-10 that inhibits T-cell proliferation and resists Holder pasteurization.

The Effect of Holder Pasteurization on Nutrients and Biologically-Active Components in Donor Human Milk: A Review

“…Rather remarkably, IL7 increased significantly after pasteurization, perhaps due to its release from cellular and/or fat compartments into the aqueous fraction, while Macrophage Inflammatory Protein-1β (MIP-1β) was significantly reduced [31]. IL2, IL4, IL5, IL12 and IL13 were unaffected even in pasteurized mature DM [38], while IL10 was decreased [38,39,40], as were IL1β [38], IFN-γ [39], IL6 [39] and TNF-α [38,39]. A significant increase in IL8, following HoP in mature DM, was also found [38,39].…”

HIV exposure does not worsen outcome in stage III necrotizing enterocolitis with current treatment protocols

“…Pasteurized milk has lower levels of important antibacterial immune proteins, such as lysozyme and immunoglobulin A [64] as well as IL-10 [65], although it does retain epidermal growth factor [66], vitamins, and some immune components despite inactivation of HIV [65,67]. The similarity in feeding characteristics, demographics, comorbid risk factors, and outcome between the HIVexposed group (83% of whom received pasteurized expressed breast milk [EBM]) and unexposed group of infants (86% of whom received unpasteurized EBM) in this study may illustrate that the protective role of breastfeeding in mitigating the severity of NEC persists despite pasteurization, as the markers for disease severity and the mortality rate were the same between the groups.…”

Effect of pasteurization on selected immune components of donated human breast milk

“…[3][4][5] Immunoglobulin A, and particularly immunoglobulin G are also significantly reduced, as are numerous other immunoactive components, such as lactoferrin, [6][7][8] lysozyme 7,9 and erythropoietin. 10 Some growth factors have been reported to be reduced by pasteurization, such as insulin-like growth factor-1 and insulinlike growth factor-2, 11 whereas others like epidermal-like growth factor (EGF) 11 and transforming growth factor-b 12 appear capable of withstanding heat treatment. Likewise, the concentration of milk oligosaccharides, known to encourage a healthy microflora, is not altered by pasteurization.…”

“…13 Despite the reduction or abolition of some bioactive components of milk, the ability of pasteurized breast milk to exert beneficial effects may not be lost, at least in vitro. Pasteurized milk has been reported to maintain much of its capacity to induce T-cell proliferation 10 and still provides substantial inhibition on the growth of E. coli. 14 As DM in hospitals is fed primarily to preterm infants who are at elevated risk of developing necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), loss of immune factors through pasteurization may have significant implications, as many of the immunoactive components of milk have been hypothesized to be involved in the prevention of NEC.…”