Oligosaccharides are included among the anti-inflammatory components of milk because of their prebiotic properties and their capacity to act as receptors of microorganisms. Here the intestinal anti-inflammatory effect of goat milk oligosaccharides (O) was assessed in trinitrobenzenesulfonic (T) acid-induced colitis in rats. Rats were randomly assigned to three different groups. Two groups (T and OS) of colitic rats and a control group (C) were studied. Group OS received 500 mg/(kg.d) of goat milk oligosaccharides orally, starting 2 d before the colitis induction until d 6, and groups T and C received the vehicle. When compared with the T group, the OS group showed decreased anorexia and body weight loss; reduced bowel wall thickening and longitudinal extension of necrotic lesions; downregulated colonic expression of interleukin 1beta, inducible nitric oxide synthase, cyclooxygenase 2, and mucin 3; and increased trefoil factor 3. Thus, goat milk oligosaccharides have anti-inflammatory effects in rats with experimental colitis and may be useful in the management of inflammatory bowel disease.

Milk kappa-casein-derived glycomacropeptide has immunomodulatory and bacterial toxin binding effects. The intestinal anti-inflammatory activity of glycomacropeptide was assessed in trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid-induced colitis in rats. Rats were administered glycomacropeptide daily starting either 2 d before (pretreatment) or 3 h after (post-treatment) colitis induction. Pretreatment with glycomacropeptide had a dose-dependent anti-inflammatory effect, characterized by lower body weight loss, decreased anorexia (57%), colonic damage (65%), and weight to length ratio (32%), as well as a reduction in colonic alkaline phosphatase activity (42%) and interleukin 1, trefoil factor 3, and inducible nitric oxide synthase mRNA levels (P < 0.05). The mechanism of action of glycomacropeptide is unknown but is consistent with an inhibition of the activation of immune cells. The magnitude of the anti-inflammatory effect was generally comparable to that of sulfasalazine, an established drug used in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Bovine glycomacropeptide may play a role in the management of patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the maternal-fetal transport, incorporation, and effects on liver delta-6 fatty-acid desaturase activity of dietary trans fatty acids in pregnant rats. Three groups of six rats each were fed three experimental diets containing approximately 0%, 15%, and 30% of trans fatty acids but containing the same proportion of linoleic (18:2 n-6) and a-linolenic (18:3 n-3) acids for 10 wk. On d 20 of pregnancy, the animals from each group were killed. We determined the fatty acid profiles in plasma, brain, and liver microsomes of pregnant rats, as well as in placenta and fetal liver and brain. No changes were found in the number of fetuses of the pregnant rats. Trans fatty acids were incorporated in high concentrations in placenta and in maternal and fetal tissues, except brain, strongly elevating the linoleic acid proportion and lowering that of docosahexaenoic acid. The delta-6 fatty-acid desaturase activity in the liver microsomes of the pregnant rats was inhibited by trans isomers. In conclusion, high intakes of trans fatty acids partially inhibit liver delta-6 fatty-acid desaturase in pregnant rats, which may explain, in part, the low concentrations of docosahexaenoic acid in pregnant and fetal tissues. However, the fatty acid composition of both fetal and pregnant rat brain remains mostly unaffected regardless of the dietary trans fatty acid content.

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