Hi,

 This just came through on the InteliHealth Weekly Sexual Health E-
newsletter. Thought you'd find it interesting.

Kathleen Fallon Pasakarnis, M.Ed, IBCLC


Immune Cells In Breast Milk Protect Infants From HIV

July 15, 2002

(American Society for Microbiology) -- Scientists have found immune cells in
the milk of HIV-infected mothers that target and kill the virus. This
finding, which could help explain the low transmission rate from mother to
child via breastfeeding despite high levels of the virus in mother's milk,
appears in the August 2002 issue of the Journal of Virology.

Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the Zambia
Exclusive Breast-Feeding Study, Boston University and Columbia University
tested breast milk cells (BMC) from HIV-infected women in the United States
and Africa for their ability to identify and respond to components of the
AIDS virus. While BMC's from all of the HIV-infected women reacted to the HIV
proteins, there was no reaction from the cells from the uninfected women.

Further tests revealed that the responses were due to the presence of immune
cells known as CD8+ T cells, the same immune cells that play a critical role
in controlling HIV levels in the blood.

"These studies provide evidence that maternally derived T cells make their
way into the infant's circulation and potentially protect the infant via
adoptive transfer of maternal T cells," say the researchers. "In addition to
the protection these cells may afford the neonate, we speculate that they may
also be acting locally to reduce the viral load in breast milk, lowering the
viral burden, and potentially decreasing transmission to newborns from their
HIV-infected mothers."




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