Hello lactnetters,
I've just read an interesting study on the potential of using hydrothermally treated cereal (bit like a malting process according to the authors) in preventing mastitis. The idea being that substances in the treated cereal induce the production of anti-secretory factor (AF) in the mother. AF is thought to have an anti-infectious and anti-inflammatory effect (imporves inflammatory markers in ulcerous colitis, Meniere disease etc). Anyway, in this study women in a treatment group were given the special cereal to eat every day for 5 weeks and the occurance of mastitis compared to a matched control group. The main results were that in the treatment group (n=12) only one woman developed mastitis while in the control group (n=17) 6 women were diagnosed with mastitis. The AF activity in the mothers milk was measured and found to be significantly higher in the treated cereal group than in the control group.
This is not a conclusive study and the authors point out the need for a larger trials but it might turn out to be a cost effective way of reducing the risk of mastitis in women, even in developing countries to help reduce the risk of HIV transmission in BF mothers.
groetjes
Sara Bernard
The Netherlands
Induction of anti-secretory factor in human milk may prevent mastitis
K SvenssonA1 A2, S Lange3, I Lönnroth3, A-M Widström1, LÅ Hanson4
Acta Paediatrica, Volume 93, Number 9 (September 2004), pp. 1228-1231,
Aim: The aim of the study was to try to induce anti-secretory factor (AF) in human milk and possibly prevent mastitis. Methods: Forty mothers who had normal deliveries and healthy full-term infants were randomly divided into two groups, 3-7 days postpartum. The experimental group received a food inducing AF. The control group received the same type of food, without AF-inducing properties. Milk was tested for AF after the mothers had eaten the cereals for 4-5 wk. AF was determined by intravenous injection of milk samples into rats measuring their capacity to prevent secretion into a gut loop of the rat injected with cholera toxin. Results: The median levels of AF differed between the experimental (n = 12) and control groups (n = 16): 1.1 (0.7-1.25) units vs 0.1 (0.0-0.25) units, Z = -4.492, p < 0.0001 (11 mothers dropped out and one milk sample is missing from one of the control mothers). The frequency of mastitis in the experimental compared with the control group was reduced (p = 0.0086, permutation test). The median AF levels in mothers with or without mastitis differed; 0.0 (0.0-0.1) vs 0.5 (0.2-1.1), Z = -2.399, p = 0.017.
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