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. 1979 Oct;83(2):255–265. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400026048

Bacteriostasis of Escherichia coli by milk. IV. The bacteriostatic antibody of human milk.

J M Dolby, P Honour
PMCID: PMC2129902  PMID: 385767

Abstract

Bacteriostatic activity for milk-sensitive and milk-resistant strains of Escherichia coli is reduced when IgA is removed from milk by precipitation. Lysozyme is not involved in bacteriostasis and can be removed without loss of activity; heavy bentonite absorption however removes some lactoferrin causing partial loss of activity. The heat-labile antigen eliciting bacteriostatic antibody for E. coli is present in milk-sensitive and milk-resistant strains and in some other Enterobacteriaceae, e.g. salmonella; it cross reacts with the antigen in others, e.g. proteus and enterobacter. The antibody is therefore likely to be present in all human milk as a result of the normal commensal gut flora and with widespread activity.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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