Alterations in the host defense properties of human milk following prolonged storage or pasteurization.

Objectives: Preterm infants are often fed pasteurized donor milk or mother's milk that has been stored frozen for up to 4 weeks. Our objectives were to assess the impact of pasteurization or prolonged storage at -20 degrees C on the immunologic components of human milk and the capability of the different forms of human milk to support bacterial proliferation.

Materials And Methods: The concentrations and activities of major host defense proteins in the whey fractions of mother's milk stored for 4 weeks at -20 degrees C or pasteurized human donor milk were compared with freshly expressed human milk.