A Double-Blind, Randomized Intervention Study on the Effect of a Whey Protein Concentrate on E. coli-Induced Diarrhea in a Human Infection Model

Abstract

Infectious diseases are a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Nutritional interventions may enhance resistance to infectious diseases or help to reduce clinical symptoms. Here, we investigated whether a whey protein concentrate (WPC) could decrease diarrheagenic Escherichia coli-induced changes in reported stool frequency and gastrointestinal complaints in a double-blind, parallel 4-week intervention study. Subjects were randomly assigned to a whey hydrolysate placebo group, a low-dose WPC group or a high-dose WPC group. After 2 weeks of consumption, subjects (n = 121) were orally infected with a high dose of live but attenuated diarrheagenic E. coli (strain E1392/75-2A; 1E10 colony-forming units). Subjects recorded information on stool consistency and the frequency and severity of symptoms in an online diary. The primary outcome parameters were a change in stool frequency (stools per day) and a change in Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) diarrhea score between the first and second days after infection. Neither dose of the whey protein concentrate in the dietary treatment affected the E. coli-induced increase in stool frequency or GSRS diarrhea score compared to placebo treatment. The composition of the microbiota shifted between the start of the study and after two weeks of consumption of the products, but no differences between the intervention groups were observed, possibly due to dietary guidelines that subjects had to adhere to during the study. In conclusion, consumption of the whey protein concentrate by healthy adults did not reduce diarrhea scores in an E. coli infection model compared to a whey hydrolysate placebo control.

Dietary Intervention with Whey Protein Concentrate Does Not Affect Toll-like Receptor Responses and Gene Expression Patterns in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Healthy Volunteers

“…In the GIGA study [ 26 ], a total of 120 healthy male volunteers were stratified and randomized into one of the three different study groups: placebo, low dose WPC, and high dose WPC. The current study used a randomly selected sample of 48 out of the 120 participants in the GIGA trial.…”

“…The participants were orally challenged with 1E10 CFU of a live attenuated E. coli strain E1392/75-2A on day 14 of the study ( Figure 1 ). A separate paper discusses the evaluation of clinical effects following the infectious challenge [ 26 ].…”

“…The present research examined a randomly chosen subpopulation of the main study [ 26 ]. Randomization was performed by using ResearchManager software version 5.40 (ResearchManager, Deventer, The Netherlands).…”

“…A recent study was conducted on the impact of consuming a whey protein concentrate (WPC) on diarrheagenic E. coli infection using the same E. coli challenge model [ 26 ]. WPC (Vivinal MFGM) is a whey protein concentrate containing bioactive whey proteins (including high levels of bovine IgG), MFGM, and phospholipids.…”

Autoaggregation ability of diarrheal causative bacteria isolated from Iraqi children

“…E. coli is regarded as a part of intestinal microbiota, because some variations of this bacteria they had the capacity to exhibit virulence, causing different appearances of gastrointestinal illness and causing the most common childhood diarrhoea [5]. Most diarrheal infections are caused by pathogenic bacteria such as E. coli, which causes GIT infection in developed countries including symptoms such as stomach pain, bloating, and moderate diarrhoea [6]. It can cause illness to humans and animals and contain pathogenic genes; it can cause an infection after an intestinal adherence by fimbria [7].…”