A group from Laboratory of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium, etc. has reported that lactose can improve diarrhea problems in young pigs by a combination of a direct effect by reducing rotavirus infection and inhibiting the growth of bacterial pathogens by balancing the environment.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9428151/
Rotavirus is an important pathogen causing diarrhea in animals and humans. High morbidity and mortality are mainly observed during the first weeks after birth. The rotavirus particles have 11 double-stranded RNA segments encoding six structural viral proteins (VP1-VP4, VP6, and VP7) and six non-structural proteins (NSP1-NSP6). Rota virus has been classified into 10 species, and RVA, B, and C are the most common genotypes that infect humans and animals, including pigs. Among them, the RVA strains have the highest prevalence in a variety of species and is a main cause of diarrhea in the veterinary world.
The carbohydrate binding specificity of recombinant VP8* protein of RBA was determined using a glycan array comprised of 300 glycans, and it was found that it binds to β-lactose strongly.
It was also shown that β-lactose decreases rotavirus infection of MA104 cells with dose dependent manner.
where, RVA strains 13R054 G5P[7] and 12R046 G9P[23]