Table 1. Description of the available techniques, its efficacy in CMV inactivation and action on breast milk composition.
| Tecnique | Definition | Efficacy on CMV Inactivation | Effect on BM Components |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long-term Pasteurization | Heating: • 62,5 °C for 30 min [6, 10, 95, 96] • 63 °C for 30 min [16] |
It induces the complete CMV eradication. Maximally efficacious in preventing CMV transmission [1, 6, 10, 16, 28, 90, 95-97, 106] |
It modifies the composition reducing nutritional, immunological and endocrinological properties [1, 6, 23, 28, 98, 99, 107], damaging Ig and lymphocytes [10], lactoferrin, lysozyme and secretory IgA, bioactive factors, hormons [96] |
| Short-term Pasteurization | Heating: • 70 °C for 5 min [10] • 72 °C for 10 sec [1,100] • 62 °C for 5 sec [16] |
It seems promising in inactivating CMV and preventing its transmission [10, 16, 28, 90, 95] |
It preserves nutritional and immunological components, enzymes, hormones, growth factors and CMV-specific Ab [10, 16, 28, 90, 95] |
| Freezing | Freeze thawing: • - 20°C for a time ranging from 18 h to 10 d [3, 10, 16, 23, 28, 101-103] |
It can reduce viral concentration, without completely eliminating it [1, 3, 10, 16, 20, 23, 28, 101-103, 108]. In vitro studies (several days) showed the complete CMV elimination, but there are still discordant results in this field [1, 6, 28, 61, 97] | It does not modify composition and nutritional and immunological properties [1, 3, 6, 10, 16, 23, 28, 98, 99, 101-103, 108] |
| UV-Irradiation | • Uv at 250 nm for several time intervals (10-50 sec) at the distance of 1, 2, 3, 4 cm from the light [96] |
It seems promising in eradicating CMV [16, 96, 104] However, some CMV related proteins are not fully eradicated and that a little viral gene transcription can still occur [96] |
It seems to preserve beneficial components, such as lactoferrin, lysozyme and secretory IgA [96] |
| Microwave-Irradiation | • High power (750 W) • Low power (500 W) for 30 sec [104] |
It seems promising in eradicating CMV [16, 96, 104] • High power irradiation induced the complete inactivation of CMV. • Low power irradiation showed a failure rate of 13% [104] |
Few studies investigate its effects on immunological, bioactive, cellular and nutritive components. It would induce a little decrease in the total content of Ig, without modifying fatty acids’ composition [104, 105] |
CMV = Cytomegalovirus; BM = Breast milk; min = minutes; sec = seconds; d = days; Ig = immunoglobulins; Ab = antibodies; Uv = ultraviolet; nm = nanometers; cm = centimeters; W = watts.