Mastitis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Mastitis, including details on symptoms, treatment, breast feeding.

Vitamin Supplementation Increases Risk of Subclinical Mastitis in HIV-Infected Women.

Arsenault JE, Aboud S, Manji KP, Fawzi WW, Villamor E

Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115.

Subclinical mastitis is common in HIV-infected women and is a risk factor for mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of vitamin supplementation [vitamin A + beta-carotene, multivitamins (B complex, C, and E), or multivitamins, including vitamin A + beta-carotene] on the risk of subclinical mastitis during the first 2 y postpartum among HIV-infected women. The study was a randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial including 674 HIV-infected, antiretroviral naïve Tanzanian women who were recruited during pregnancy and followed-up after delivery. Breast milk samples were obtained approximately every 3 mo. Any subclinical mastitis was defined as a ratio of the sodium to potassium (Na:K) breast milk concentrations > 0.6 and further classified as either moderate (Na:K >/= 0.6 and </= 1) or severe (Na:K > 1.0). Fifty-eight percent of women had at least 1 episode of any subclinical mastitis. Women assigned to multivitamins (B complex, C, and E) had a 33% greater risk of any subclinical mastitis (P = 0.005) and a 75% greater risk of severe subclinical mastitis (P = 0.0006) than women who received the placebo. Vitamin A + beta-carotene also increased the risk of severe subclinical mastitis by 45% (P = 0.03). Among women with CD4+ T-cell counts >/= 350 cells/muL, multivitamin intake resulted in a 49% increased risk of any subclinical mastitis (P = 0.006); by contrast, there were no treatment effects among women with CD4+ T-cell counts < 350 cells/muL (P- interaction for treatment x CD4+ T-cell count = 0.10). Supplementation of HIV-infected women with vitamins increased the risk of subclinical mastitis.

Published 26 August 2010 in J Nutr.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

Articles on Mastitis published 26 August 2010:

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Articles on Mastitis published 23 August 2010:

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Articles on Mastitis published 19 August 2010:

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Articles on Mastitis published 17 August 2010:

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Articles on Mastitis published 16 August 2010:

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The identification of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) causing ovine infections remains problematic, although these bacteria are considered the main etiologic agents of subclinical mastitis in sheep and goats. In this study, 226 CNS isolates were collected from 2201 milking sarda sheep belonging to 15 flocks with high somatic cell count scores. All isolates were subjected to identification with the API Staph ID test, and then to the amplification of staphylococcal 16S rRNA and gap genes ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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