Mastitis in women: a new look at the old problem

Abstract

Breast milk contains representatives of the microbiota which affect not only the health of child but also the condition of mammary glands in breastfeeding women both in the short and long term. In fact, dysbiosis of the breast milk microbiota caused by the mother’s body dysfunction as well as exposure to microbial and health factors, often contributes to the development of acute, subacute or subclinical mastitis. The pathology frequently results in the cessation of breastfeeding. Antibiotic resistance, ability to form biofilms, iron binding capacity, as well as the impact on the host’s immune response, are the common features of today’s bacterial pathogens (mainly staphylococci, streptococci and corynebacteria) which may also cause mastitis. This explains why people may become immune to antibiotic therapy, and why the development of new approaches in mastitis treatment using probiotics is becoming very attractive. Some strains of lactobacilli isolated from milk have already demonstrated high efficacy in the prevention and treatment of mastitis in lactating women.

Keywords

• breast milk
• microflora
• mastitis
• dysbiosis
• breastfeeding
• staphylococci (staphylococcus)
• streptococci (streptococcus)
• corynebacteria (corynebacterium)
• probiotics