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Breast-Feeding Protects Infantile Diarrhea Caused by Intestinal Protozoan Infections

2013; Korean Society for Parasitology; Volume: 51; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3347/kjp.2013.51.5.519

1738-0006

Ekhlas H. Abdel-Hafeez, Usama S. Belal, Manal Z. M. Abdellatif, Koji Naoi, Kazumi Norose,

Amoebic Infections and Treatments

This study investigated the effect of breast-feeding in protection against protozoan infection in infants with persistent diarrhea. Infants were classified into 2 groups; 161 breast-fed infants and the same number of non-breast-fed infants. Microscopic examinations of stool were done for detection of parasites and measuring the intensity of infection. Moreover, serum levels of IgE and TNF-α were measured by ELISA. Cryptosporidium spp., Entamoeba histolytica/Entamoeba dispar, Giardia lamblia, and Blastocystis sp. were demonstrated in infants with persistent diarrhea. The percentage of protozoan infections was significantly lower in breast-fed infants than that in the non-breast-fed infants. The levels of IgE and TNF-α were significantly lower in the breast-fed group than in the non-breast-fed group. There were significant positive associations between the serum levels of IgE and TNF-α and the intensity of parasite infection in the breast-fed group. It is suggested that breast-feeding has an attenuating effect on the rate and intensity of parasite infection. Key words: Entamoeba histolytica, Entamoeba dispar, Giardia lamblia, Cryptosporidium, Blastocystis, breast-feeding, breast milk, diarrhea, intestinal protozoa, IgE, TNF-α