Dental Caries and Growth in Rats Fed Whole-Milk Powders with Increasing Lysine Deterioration

Section D. Nutritive value of milk and milk products: Part I. Nutritive value of milk proteins

“…Subsequently Edmonds, Madsen & Smith (26) showed that a supplement of lysine caused a reduced incidence of caries even when added to a diet that contained autoclaved dried skim-milk and that allowed normal growth. However, Mauron and his colleagues (22,76) found no difference in the incidence or severity of carious lesions in rats given diets containing freeze-dried or fresh milk, or spray-dried or roller-dried skim-milk with contents of available lysine ranging from 28 to 100 %. Several factors, including the strain of rat used and the type of carious lesion produced may explain these discrepancies, but it seems probable that the cariogenic properties of heat-damaged dried skim-milk are not to be attributed solely to a reduction in their content of available lysine.…”