In vitro adhesion and invasion inhibition of Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella flexneri and Shigella sonnei clinical strains by human milk proteins.

Background: Shigella is the etiological agent of shigellosis, a disease responsible for more than 500,000 deaths of children per year, in developing countries. These pathogens colonize the intestinal colon, invade, spreading to the other enterocytes. Breastfeeding plays a very important role in protecting infants from intestinal infections.