MMRF June 06 Book.qxd

that can infect the large intestine and cause amoebiasis, an illness responsible for at least 100,000 deaths annually worldwide. The capacity of human milk to kill amoebas6,15 and the amoebicidal action of secretory immunoglobulin type A (sIgA)16 have been reported. However, it is unknown which other components of milk are amoebicides. As milk contains several microbicidal components, we fractionated milk and tested each fraction against trophozoites in axenic cultures to describe any amoebicidal effects of other components of human and bovine milk such as lactoferrin, lysozyme and sIgA. We also sought to identify any combined effect among these molecules. Original Research Clinical Medicine & Research Volume 4, Number 2:106-113 ©2006 Marshfield Clinic http://www.clinmedres.org