Comparison effects of holder pasteurization and high-temperature short-time pasteurization on antiviral activity of human milk

INTRODUCTION To date all international guidelines recommend the use of Holder Pasteurization (HoP), which provides a temperature of 62.5°C for 15 minutes, to avoid potential infections transmitted by human donor milk. A drawback of pasteurization is that it affects some human milk bioactive and nutritive components [1]. Recently, High-Temperature ShortTime (HTST) pasteurization has been reported to be a valuable alternative technology to increase the retention of some biological features of human milk [2]. However, to date, scarce data are available about the impact of pasteurization methods other than HoP on the antiviral activity of human milk. AIM The aim of our study was the evaluation of the antiviral activity of human milk against a panel of viral pathogens causing diseases in newborns and children (i.e., HSV 1 and 2, CMV, RSV, HRoV, and HRhV), and the assessment of the effects of HoP and HTST pasteurization on milk's antiviral properties. RESULTS Results demonstrate an antiviral activity of human raw milk against all viruses tested. Unlike the Holder pasteurization, HTST preserved the inhibitory activity against CMV, HRhV, HRoV and HSV 2. By contrast, both methods reduced the antiviral activities significantly against HRhV and HSV 1. Unexpectedly, HoP improved milk's anti-rotavirus activity. In conclusion, our study contributes to the definition of the pasteurization method that allows the best compromise between microbiological safety and biological quality of donated human milk: HTST pasteurization preserved milk's antiviral activity better than HoP.