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Breast Milk Enhances Growth of Enteroids: An Ex Vivo Model of Cell Proliferation
Published on: February 15, 2018
The Sterilization of Human Milk by Holder Pasteurization or by High Hydrostatic Pressure Processing Leads to
Lionel Carneiro1,2, Lucie Marousez3, Matthias Van Hul2,4,5
1INSERM U1220, Institut de Recherche en Santé Digestive (IRSD), Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse III, CHU Purpan, Place du Docteur Baylac, CS 60039, CEDEX 3, 31024 Toulouse, France.
Background:
Human milk banks (HMBs) provide sterilized donor milk (DM) for the feeding of preterm infants. Most HMBs use the standard method of Holder pasteurization (HoP) performed by heating DM at 62.5 °C for 30 min. High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) processing has been proposed as an alternative to HoP. This study aims to evaluate intestinal barrier integrity and microbiota composition in adult mice subjected to a chronic oral administration of HoP- or HHP-DM.
Methods:
Mice were treated by daily gavages with HoP- or HHP-DM over seven days. Intestinal barrier integrity was assessed through in vivo 4 kDa FITC-dextran permeability assay and mRNA expression of several tight junctions and mucins in ileum and colon. Cecal short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and microbiota were analyzed.
Results:
HHP-DM mice displayed decreased intestinal permeability to FITC-dextran and increased ileal mRNA expression levels of two tight junctions (Ocln and Cdh1) and Muc2. In the colon, mRNA expression levels of two tight junctions (Cdh1 and Tjp1) and of two mucins (Muc2 and Muc4) were decreased in HHP-DM mice. Cecal SCFAs and microbiota were not different between groups.
Conclusions:
HHP processing of DM reinforces intestinal barrier integrity in vivo without affecting gut microbiota and SCFAs production. This study reinforces previous findings showing that DM sterilization through HHP might be beneficial for the intestinal maturation of preterm infants compared with the use of HoP for the treatment of DM.
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