Ikrame Aknouch (Netherlands)
Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Institute for Infection and Immunity Department of Medical Microbiology, OrganoVIR LabsPresenter of 1 Presentation
BREASTMILK INHIBITS ENVELOPED VIRUS INFECTION, INCLUDING SARS-COV-2, IN A GUT ENTEROID MODEL (ID 941)
Abstract
Background
Viral transmission from mother to child through infected breastmilk is well established for viral infections such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) known to cause perinatal disease. Similarly, in the case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), it has been suggested that breastfeeding could potentially be a mechanism for transmission during the acute phase of disease.
Methods
The 3D human fetal intestinal organoids are an “inside out” representation of human physiology with the basal side on the outside facing the environment and the apical side facing the inwards. During culture, the organoids are “opened up” and cultured as a monolayer on transwell inserts to evaluated the protective ability of breastmilk against SARS-CoV-2. The monolayers were apically exposed to SARS-CoV-2 and breastmilk mix. Samples were collected on different time point for different analysis.
Results
In the current study, we evaluated the protective ability of breastmilk against SARS-CoV-2 infection in a human fetal primary intestinal organoids model. We find that human breastmilk blocks SARS-CoV-2 replication, irrespective of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies, in this model. Furthermore, complete inhibition of both enveloped Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus and Respiratory Syncytial Virus infections while no inhibition of non-enveloped Enterovirus A71 infection was observed.
Conclusions
Our data indicate that breastmilk has potent antiviral activity against some enveloped viruses and identification of the potential mechanism will be of value in antiviral treatment.
Clinical Trial Registration
Not aplicibale