Scientists have found sugars in breast milk that can replace antibiotics
Biochemists from Vanderbilt University in Nashville (USA) have found sugars in breast milk that destroy dangerous bacteria. For example, they can withstand dangerous strains of streptococcus that cause severe infections in newborn babies, ACS reports.
It is noted that these sugars have existed for a very long time, but bacteria have not yet become resistant to their action. If biochemists can understand how they work, then it will be possible to create new drugs that can be used as replacements for antibiotics.In the past 10 years, biologists and chemists have actively studied the effect on the functioning of children and adults of cow's and mother's milk. … Studies have shown that it contains various enzymes that help the body fight microbes, various inflammations. It also plays an important role in the formation of intestinal microflora in newborns.
When scientists discovered sugars, they wondered if these molecules could suppress bacterial infections, for example, in the body of several pregnant mice. As observations and experiments have shown, oligosaccharides reduced the growth of microbes, and also prevented the development of severe infections in the body of females and their future offspring.
The exact mechanisms of these sugary substances have not yet been clarified, but experts have suggested that they prevent dangerous bacteria from attaching to the tissues of the human body. They also accelerate the growth of beneficial microflora that compete for resources with streptococcus and other pathogens.
In the near future, biochemists want to study the entire set of two hundred oligosaccharides that are present in breast milk, and isolate from them those that act most effectively on microbes.
Earlier it was reported that after illness with coronavirus in a nursing mother, milk changed color. Anna Cortez consulted a physician, complaining that her milk had turned green. The expert explained that the color change is due to the fact that the milk changes its composition, and now it contains antibodies.
