The impact of HIV exposure status and maternal feeding practice on the concentration of SLPI and E/tr-2 protein in infant saliva and maternal breast milk

  • Dontsa, Nobomi
Open PDF
Publication date
June 2023
Publisher
Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences
Language
English

Abstract

Background Among infants, postnatal HIV transmission occurs via the oral route when ingesting breastmilk containing HI-virions (Kuhn et al., 2007). HIV acquisition via this route is however very low, possibly due to the presence of innate proteins in the oral secretions. Such innate proteins with anti-HIV activity include secretory leukocyte protease inhibitors (SLPI) and Elafin/trappin-2 (E/tr-2). At physiological concentrations SLPI and E/tr-2 have been shown to inhibit in vitro HIV replication in human monocytes and epithelial cells, respectively. Study Aims 1) To determine the impact of HIV infection/ exposure on the concentration of SLPI and E/tr-2 in maternal breast milk and infant saliva; 2) To investigate the impact of of feeding mo...

Extracted data

We use cookies to provide a better user experience.