Using breast milk from healthy HCV-negative women, the research team found that even short preincubation periods
of HCV
in the
milk brought consistent reductions
of HCV infectivity by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude.
The breast milk inactivated HCV infectivity independent of the viral genotype, and antiviral activity was concentration dependent. Concentrations between 4% and 6% milk were sufficient to reduce HCV infectivity, whereas higher dilutions abolished the antiviral effect.