Cornea cures include Mom's milk

Old wives tales pan out in research tests

https://www.mamanatural.com/benefits-of-breastfeeding/

For generations grandmothers advised moms to use breast milk to soothe the wounds of their babies. They used it in their baby's eyes for blocked tear ducts and even on chemical corneal burns.

It does seem to contain healing properties useful for treating corneal injuries, according to researchers:

Purpose: Dry eye syndrome (DES) affects millions of people worldwide. Homeopathic remedies to treat a wide variety of ocular diseases have previously been documented in the literature, but little systematic work has been performed to validate the remedies’ efficacy using accepted laboratory models of disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of human milk and nopal cactus (prickly pear), two widely used homeopathic remedies, as agents to reduce pathological markers of DES. Methods: The previously described benzalkonium chloride (BAK) dry eye mouse model was used to study the efficacy of human milk and nopal cactus (prickly pear). BAK (0.2%) was applied to the mouse ocular surface twice daily to induce dry eye pathology. Fluorescein staining was used to verify that the animals had characteristic signs of DES. After induction of DES, the animals were treated with human milk (whole and fat-reduced), nopal, nopal extract derivatives, or cyclosporine four times daily for 7 days. Punctate staining and preservation of corneal epithelial thickness, measured histologically at the end of treatment, were used as indices of therapeutic efficacy. Results: Treatment with BAK reduced the mean corneal epithelial thickness from 36.77±0.64 μm in the control mice to 21.29±3.2 μm. Reduction in corneal epithelial thickness was largely prevented by administration of whole milk (33.2±2.5 μm) or fat-reduced milk (36.1±1.58 μm), outcomes that were similar to treatment with cyclosporine (38.52±2.47 μm), a standard in current dry eye therapy. In contrast, crude or filtered nopal extracts were ineffective at preventing BAK- induced loss of corneal epithelial thickness (24.76±1.78 μm and 27.99±2.75 μm, respectively), as were solvents used in the extraction of nopal materials (26.53±1.46 μm for ethyl acetate, 21.59±5.87 μm for methanol). Epithelial damage, as reflected in the punctate scores, decreased over 4 days of treatment with whole and fat-reduced milk but continued to increase in eyes treated with nopal-derived materials. Conclusions: Whole and fat-reduced human milk showed promising effects in the prevention of BAK-induced loss of corneal epithelial thickness and epithelial damage in this mouse model. Further studies are required to determine whether human milk may be safely used to treat dry eye in patients. - JL Diego, et al.

Corneal epithelial thickness after treatment with human milk therapies. Comparisons were analyzed with one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post-hoc test. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001; data are mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM).

“Human milk contains components previously investigated and proven to be effective in other dry eye studies: epidermal growth factor, vitamin A, lactoferrin, oligosaccharides, and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.” - JL Diego, et al.

A more recent animal study investigated breast milk as a therapeutic in corneal epithelial defects caused by debridement.

Purpose Corneal epithelial defects from trauma or surgery heal as new epithelial cells grow centripetally from the limbus and replenish the epithelium. Corneal wound healing requires cell signalling molecules. However, a topical treatment with these components is not available. Human breast milk (HBM) offers a potential, novel treatment as it contains bioactive molecules important in epithelial cell healing. This study seeks to investigate the potential of HBM in cornea wound healing. Methods. Balb/c mice, 8–12 weeks old, were anesthetized prior to creating a 2 mm central cornea epithelial defect. Mice were randomly assigned to a treatment group: HBM, ophthalmic ointment containing neomycin, polymyxin B, dexamethasone (RxTx), or saline and treated 4x/day for 2 days. Wound area was quantified by fluorescein and ImageJ at 0, 8, 24, and 48 h post wounding and eyes used for histology, RT-qPCR, and ELISA. Results. Wounded corneas treated with HBM demonstrated increased re-epithelialization at 8 h post injury compared to saline treatments. ELISA showed significantly higher Ki67 in HBM treated eyes vs. saline control at 8 h …. Additionally, immunohistology revealed more Ki67 positive cells in the HBM group compared to saline at 8 h and 24 h … For inflammatory analysis, HBM group IL-1β levels were similar to the saline group, and higher than RxTx treated eyes…. Immunohistochemical staining for CD11b (macrophage marker) revealed HBM-treated eyes had significantly more positive cells vs. saline. RT-qPCR of limbal stem cell markers (LESCs) revealed upregulation of Integrin αV at 8 h with HBM vs. saline. Conclusions. HBM treatment on corneas with debridement of epithelium demonstrated improved healing, cellular proliferation, and upregulation of the LESC gene transcript, integrin αV, after wounding. Future studies could investigate LESC response to different signalling molecules in HBM to better understand the efficacy of this potential therapy. - SN Pimple, et al.

Components of breast milk responsible for this enhanced healing, remain unknown. However, past researchers looked at glycerol monolaurate content in breast milk and tested its antibacterial potencies. Human breast milk has 200 x glycerol monolaurate (GML) than cows' milk. And formula contains none. GML is selective in fighting the pathogenic bacteria - allowing beneficial microbiome species to continue to thrive.

Human milk has antimicrobial compounds and immunomodulatory activities. We investigated glycerol monolaurate (GML) in human milk versus bovine milk and infant formula for antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities. Human milk contained approximately 3000 µg/ml of GML, compared to 150 μg/ml in bovine milk and none in infant formula. For bacteria tested (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Clostridium perfringens, Escherichia coli), except Enterococcus faecalis, human milk was more antimicrobial than bovine milk and formula. The Enterococcus faecalis strain, which was not inhibited, produced reutericyclin, which is an analogue of GML and functions as a growth stimulant in bacteria that produce it. Removal of GML and other lipophilic molecules from human milk by ethanol extraction resulted in a loss of antibacterial activity, which was restored by re-addition of GML. GML addition caused bovine milk to become antimicrobial. Human milk but not bovine milk or formula inhibited superantigen and bacterial-induced IL-8 production by model human epithelial cells. GML may contribute beneficially to human milk compared to bovine milk or infant formula. - PM Schlievert, et al.

My past newsletters also reported on milk components involved in regeneration and rehabilitation of other tissues:

Dermatologic Tidbits. Interest worthy tips on tidying up the integuement. “Ophthalmology research looking for keratoconus treatments discovered that corneal collagen cross-linking can halt the progression of corneal deformation. The affected cornea is treated topically with vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and then exposed to UVA light [a component of sunlight btw]. It links the collagen fibrils to stiffen the corneal surface, holding it in normal position, preventing the bulge to form.”

Nicotinamide Riboside helps build muscle energy and strength. “Cow milk typically contained 12 umol NAD+ precursor vitamins/L, of which 60% was present as nicotinamide and 40% was present as NR.”

Muscle Miracles? Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness DOMS - are we exercisers doomed to hurt? “To recover from that crossfit high intensity interval workout, some propose that drinking milk is the best bet. Studies comparing it against carbohydrate and soy drinks demonstrated that it increased muscle mass gain and function the most.”

For liver to regenerate, glutamate is great. “Human breast milk is one of the highest MSG-containing mammalian kinds of milk.”

Hmmm…. perhaps we should look more carefully at those lotions and potions provided by Grandma.

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REFERENCES

JL Diego, et al. Effect of human milk as a treatment for dry eye syndrome in a mouse model. Mol Vis. 2016 Sep 9;22:1095-1102. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5017541/

SN Pimple, et al. (2024). Human Breast Milk Enhances Cellular Proliferation in Cornea Wound Healing. Current Eye Research, 49(11), 1138–1144. https://doi.org/10.1080/02713683.2024.2374836

K Thomas, et al. Improved endurance capacity following chocolate milk consumption compared with 2 commercially available sport drinks. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2009 Feb;34(1):78-82. doi: 10.1139/H08-137

PM Schlievert, et al. Glycerol Monolaurate Contributes to the Antimicrobial and Anti-inflammatory Activity of Human Milk. Sci Rep 9, 14550 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51130-y