Treatment of infantile E. coli gastroenteritis with specific bovine anti-E. coli milk immunoglobulins

Abstract

A milk immunoglobulin concentrate (MIC) containing antibodies to enteropathogenic E. coli strains was prepared by hyperimmunisation of pregnant cows and using the milk obtained during the first 6 to 8 days of lactation. The sterile concentrate contained 70 to 80% protein and 35 to 40% immunoglobulin. The antibacterial activity was measured by bacterial passive agglutination, bacteriostatic activity in vitro, phagocytic clearance in vivo, and a protection test in mice. Though differences in titers were observed, adequate immunologic activity was demonstrated by these tests. Clinical studies were performed with 60 patients (aged 10 days to 18 months) suffering from diarrhoea with isolation of enteropathogenic E. coli. They were treated for 10 days with MIC and stool cultures were done prior to, during, and 2, 3 and 4 days after termination of treatment. Among 51 patients infected with E. coli strains incorporated in the vaccine, stool cultures became negative in 43 (84.3%) after treatment with MIC and 8 remained positive. Nine patients infected with strains O 78:K80(B-) and O 114:K--(B-)--which were not included in the vaccine used for immunisation--served as controls. Only one patient in this group became negative. If all patients receiving antibiotics for non intestinal infections during the treatment period are omitted the results remained unaltered: MIC was effective in 32 out of 38 patients (84.2%). These differences were highly significant. These results provide evidence that treatment with specific MIC is effective in eliminating enteropathogenic E. coli from the intestine.

The role of bovine colostrum on recovery time and length of hospital stay of acute diarrhea in infants and children: a double-blind randomized controlled trial

“…Guarino et al, 13 in Italy found the length of hospital stay was 76 hours in the group of acute diarrhea caused by rotavirus given antiviral human serum immunoglobulin compared to 131 hours in control group. In the Mieten et al's study, 14 bovine colostrum was given to 60 children with acute diarrhea by enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC). This study results showed that 84.3% feces became E. coli negative after finishing the bovine colostrum treatment compared with 11.1% at the control group.…”

Oral administration of human serum immunoglobulin in immunodeficient patients with viral gastroenteritis. A pharmacokinetic and functional analysis.

“…However, problems ofavailability, storage, and the possible transmission of infectious agents, such as cytomegalovirus, are factors that make widespread treatment or prophylaxis trials with human milk products difficult to accomplish. There have been several studies in man suggesting that passive immunity against infectious diarrheal agents may be achieved by the oral administration of immunoglobulin preparations derived from human or animal sera (12)(13)(14). To date, there have been no detailed studies of orally administered immunoglobulins in humans older than 13 wk ofage or in patients with chronic infectious diarrhea.…”

Reactivity of human serum antibody with lipopolysaccharide O 78 antigen from enterotoxigenicEscherichia coli

“…Enterotoxigenic E. coli strains are only an infrequent cause of gastroenteritis in the geographical area where the sera were collected. Only 9 out of 60 identified E. coli isolates from gastroenteritis patients hospitalized in Bochum/Germany belonged to enterotoxigenic E. coli serogroups (eight isolates were in fact of 0 78 serogroup [4], whereas 51 isolates belonged to enteropathogenic E. coli serogroups [4,9]. In addition only 22 % of the sera reactive with 0 78 antigen showed IgG antibody to the heat-labile enterotoxin according to the criteria of Levine and colleagues.…”

“…In the present report we investigated the possibility whether antibody to an individual 0 antigen (O 78) could be used as a serological marker for ETEC strain infection. 0 78 antigen was chosen because sera from volunteers orally challenged with ETEC strain 0 78 H11 were available to us [3] and because serogroup 0 78 was the most frequently isolated ETEC strain in the area where the scroprevalence study was conducted [4]. by heating in saline a suspension of washed E. coli grown on veal-infusion agar (Difco) for 1 h at 100°C [5].…”