Pubmed - Immunomodulatory proteins in colostrum

Department of Internal Medicine, Pneumonology and Allergology, Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of National Defense, Military Institute of Health Services in Warsaw, Poland. tplusa@wim.mil.pl

Abstract

The value of bovine colostrums is documented in clinical observations and supported by large database. An antibacterial effect and modulation of the immune response are accepted. The wide spectrum of the activity of a lactoferrin or a proline-rich polipeptide complex was confirmed in experimental and clinical studies. Moreover, a high concentration of immunoglobulins in bovine colostrum gives exceptional opportunity for use it as a support in immunodeficiency treatment.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19388540

Pubmed - Bovine colostrum contains immunoglobulin G antibodies against intimin, EspA, and EspB and inhibits hemolytic activity mediated by the type three secretion system of attaching and effacing Escherichia coli

Instituto de Patobiología, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Abstract

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) is the main cause of hemolytic-uremic syndrome, an endemic disease in Argentina which had an incidence in 2005 of 13.9 cases per 100,000 children younger than 5 years old. 

Cattle appear to be a major reservoir of EHEC, and a serological response to EHEC antigens has been demonstrated in natural and experimental infections. In the current study, antibodies against proteins implicated in EHEC's ability to form attaching and effacing lesions, some of which are exported to the host cell via a type three secretion system (TTSS), were identified in bovinecolostrum by Western blot analysis. Twenty-seven (77.0%) of the 35 samples examined contained immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against the three proteins assayed in this study: EspA, EspB, and the carboxy-terminal 280 amino acids of gamma-intimin, an intimin subtype associated mainly with O157:H7 and O145:H- serotypes. 

Every colostrum sample was able to inhibit, in a range between 45.9 and 96.7%, the TTSS-mediated hemolytic activity of attaching and effacing E. coli. The inhibitory effect was partially mediated by IgG and lactoferrin. In conclusion, we found that early colostrum from cows contains antibodies, lactoferrin, and other unidentified substances that impair TTSS function in attaching and effacing E. coli strains. 

Bovine colostrum might act by reducing EHEC colonization in newborn calves and could be used as a prophylactic measure to protect non-breast-fed children against EHEC infection in an area of endemicity.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18562563

Pubmed - Colostrum and milk-derived peptide growth factors for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders

Department of Gastroenterology, Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK. r.playford@ic.ac.uk

Abstract

Colostrum is the specific first diet of mammalian neonates and is rich in immunoglobulins, antimicrobial peptides, and growth factors. In this article we review some of these constituents of human and bovine colostrum in comparison with those of mature milk. 

Recent studies suggest that colostral fractions, or individual peptides present in colostrum, might be useful for the treatment of a wide variety of gastrointestinal conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug-induced gut injury, and chemotherapy-induced mucositis. We therefore discuss the therapeutic possibilities of using whole colostrum, or individual peptides present in colostrum, for the treatment of various gastrointestinal diseases and the relative merits of the 2 approaches.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10871554

Pubmed - Co-administration of the health food supplement, bovine colostrum, reduces the acute non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced increase in intestinal permeability

Department of Gastroenterology, Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Road, London W120NN, UK. r.playford@ic.ac.uk

Abstract

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are effective analgesics but cause gastrointestinal injury. Present prophylactic measures are suboptimal and novel therapies are required. 

Bovine colostrum is a cheap, readily available source of growth factors, which reduces gastrointestinal injury in rats and mice. We therefore examined whether spray-dried, defatted colostrum could reduce the rise in gut permeability (a non-invasive marker of intestinal injury) caused by NSAIDs in volunteers and patients taking NSAIDs for clinical reasons. Healthy male volunteers (n=7) participated in a randomized crossover trial comparing changes in gut permeability (lactulose/rhamnose ratios) before and after 5 days of 50 mg of indomethacin three times daily (tds) per oral with colostrum (125 ml, tds) or whey protein (control) co-administration. A second study examined the effect of colostral and control solutions (125 ml, tds for 7 days) on gut permeability in patients (n=15) taking a substantial, regular dose of an NSAID for clinical reasons. 

For both studies, there was a 2 week washout period between treatment arms. In volunteers, indomethacin caused a 3-fold increase in gut permeability in the control arm (lactulose/rhamnose ratio 0.36+/-0.07 prior to indomethacin and 1.17+/-0.25 on day 5, P<0.01), whereas no significant increase in permeability was seen when colostrum was co-administered. In patients taking long-term NSAID treatment, initial permeability ratios were low (0.13+/-0.02), despite continuing on the drug, and permeability was not influenced by co-administration of test solutions. 

These studies provide preliminary evidence that bovine colostrum, which is already currently available as an over-the-counter preparation, may provide a novel approach to the prevention of NSAID-induced gastrointestinal damage in humans.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11352778

Pubmed - Bovine colostrum supplementation and exercise performance: potential mechanisms

School of Human Life Sciences, University of Tasmania, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. Cecilia.Shing@utas.edu.au

Abstract

Bovine colostrum (BC) is rich in immune, growth and antimicrobial factors, which promote tissue growth and the development of the digestive tract and immune function in neonatal calves. Although the value of BC to human adults is not well understood, supplementation with BC is becoming increasingly popular in trained athletes to promote exercise performance. 

The combined presence of insulin-like growth factors (IGF), transforming growth factors, immunoglobulins, cytokines, lactoferrin and lysozyme, in addition to hormones such as growth hormone, gonadotrophin-releasing hormone, luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone and glucocorticoids, would suggest that BC might improve immune function, gastrointestinal integrity and the neuroendocrine system, parameters that may be compromised as a result of intensive training. 

A review of studies investigating the influence of BC supplementation on exercise performance suggests that BC supplementation is most effective during periods of high-intensity training and recovery from high-intensity training, possibly as a result of increased plasma IGF-1, improved intramuscular buffering capacity, increases in lean body mass and increases in salivary IgA. 

However, there are contradicting data for most parameters that have been considered to date, suggesting that small improvements across a range of parameters might contribute to improved performance and recovery, although this cannot be concluded with certainty because the various doses and length of supplementation with BC in different studies prevent direct comparison of results. Future research on the influence of BC on sports performance will only be of value if the dose and length of supplementation of a well-defined BC product is standardized across studies, and the bioavailability of the active constituents in BC is determined.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19902984

Pubmed - Bovine colostrum is superior to enriched formulas in stimulating intestinal function and necrotising enterocolitis resistance in preterm pigs

Department of Systems Biology, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark.

Abstract

Milk contains immunomodulatory compounds that may be important to protect the immature intestine in preterm neonates from harmful inflammatory reactions involved in disorders like necrotising enterocolitis (NEC). We hypothesised that bovinecolostrum and milk formulas enriched with sialic acids (SL), gangliosides (Gang) or osteopontin (OPN) would improve gastrointestinal function and NEC resistance in preterm neonates. 

Forty-seven caesarean-delivered preterm pigs were given total parenteral nutrition for 2 d followed by 1·5 d of enteral feeding. In Expt 1, a control formula was compared with an OPN-enriched formula (n 13), while Expt 2 compared a control formula with bovine colostrum or formulas enriched with Gang or SL (n 4-6). OPN enrichment decreased NEC severity relative to control formula (P < 0·01), without any significant effects on NEC incidence, digestive enzyme activities and hexose absorption. 

Neither SL- nor Gang-enriched formulas improved NEC resistance or digestive functions, while all the intestinal functional parameters were significantly improved in pigs fed bovinecolostrum, relative to formula. The effects in vivo were supported in vitro by bacteria- and dose-dependent modulation by colostrum whey of the cytokine response from bacteria-stimulated murine bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (DC). 

In conclusion, OPN had only moderate NEC-protective effects, while formulas enriched with Gang or SL were ineffective. The observed modulation of DC cytokine response by bovine colostrum whey in vitro may be due to a synergistic action of various milk bioactives, and it may explain its beneficial effects on NEC development and intestinal function in a piglet model of preterm infants.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20723273

Colostrum - Alternative Relief of Allergic Symptomps

RATIONALE: An alternative approach to modulating cytokine levels, in particular the pro-inflammatory cytokines is possible in mammals, with simple oral supplementation of a class of bovine colostrum peptides.

METHODS: A subclass of colostrum peptides of molecular weight 1000 (PRP-3b) was isolated using high pressure liquid chromatography-size exclusion ion exchange and collected in a microfiltered water solution. The amino acid sequence of PRP-3b was: Val–Glu–Ser–Tyr–Val–Pro–Leu–Phe–Pro. Physical symptoms of allergic inflammatory symptoms were observed, monitored, and recorded before and after 2ml oral administration. Peptides were administered orally at various intervals over a thirty day period.

RESULTS: The peptides appeared to relieve inflammatory pressures, for example sinus pressures, and other allergic symptoms in all cohorts, some within minutes after the initial oral dose. A greater reduction in symptoms were observed with more frequent administration initially. No negative side effects were observed throughout trial. It is understood, allergen plus IL-4 leads to allergy. IL-4 is not the only important cytokine in allergy. In many cases IL-13 is even the more important cytokine, since it is produced for a longer time and to higher levels than IL-4.

CONCLUSIONS: Thus, modulation of the cytokine network using colostrum PRP3 sub-class peptides by oral supplementation appears to balance or modulate the mammalian cytokine system, and thus reduce real time allergic pro-inflammatory symptoms. Continuous oral supplementation is required if further exposure to allergens exists. Cytokine and immune modulation by colostrum peptide supplementation, can help with many other challanging health conditions, these are discussed.

2007 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(06)03503-2/fulltext