The effect of milk fat globules on adherence and internalization of Salmonella Enteritidis to HT-29 cells

Milk fat globules were extracted from bovine and goat milk and incubated with HT-29 human adenocarcinoma cells to assess the attachment and internalization of Salmonella Enteritidis. Because the expression of bacterial adhesins is highly affected by the presence of antibiotic, the attachment was studied with and without antibiotic in the cell growth medium. Although no inhibitory effect of the fat globules was observed in the presence of the antibiotic, milk fat globules significantly inhibited the binding and internalization of Salmonella in medium free of antibiotic. The fat globules from both bovine and goat milk markedly reduced bacterial binding and invasion compared with controls, and the cells treated with goat milk-derived fat globules demonstrated greater protective properties than those derived from bovine milk. The effect of heat treatment on bovine fat globules was also investigated, and it was shown that the fat globules from heated milk had a higher degree of inhibition than those from unheated milk.