Skimmed, sterilized, and concentrated bovine late colostrum promotes both prevention and recovery from intestinal tissue damage in mice

Abstract

Bovine colostrum is a rich source of tissue repair and growth factors, and inhibits gastrointestinal injury induced by the side effects of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAID), such as indomethacin. Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs are drugs with analgesic and antipyretic effects, but in higher doses they have inflammatory effects. The pathogenesis of small intestinal damage caused by NSAID is unclear. The present study was performed to investigate the antiinflammatory effects of skimmed, sterilized, and concentrated bovine late colostrum on intestinal injury induced by side effects of NSAID, and then to identify the active ingredient in the colostrum for intestinal tissue. In Japan, the sale of bovine colostrum within 5 d after parturition is prohibited by law. Therefore, we focused on bovine late colostrum obtained from healthy lactating cows 6 to 7 d after parturition. Proliferation of small intestine epithelial cells was stimulated in mice fed the colostrum for 1 wk. With regard to indomethacin-induced enteropathy, both prefeeding and postfeeding with colostrum facilitated growth of the intestinal villi, indicating preventive and healing effects. Furthermore, to identify the active ingredient in the colostrum responsible for this effect, the casein and whey fractions were prepared from the colostrum and fed to normal mice. Only the colostrum casein fraction stimulated intestinal villus elongation, whereas the whey fraction and mature milk casein showed no such effect. Taken together, these observations indicate that the skimmed, sterilized, and concentrated bovine late colostrum, especially the casein fraction, could be used to treat the injurious effects of NSAID in the intestine and could be effective for treatment of other ulcerative conditions in the bowel, suggesting that the colostrum has therapeutic potential for intestinal inflammation.

Potential benefits of colostrum in gastrointestinal diseases

“…Satisfactory results were not obtained in all of the studies, EGF only had a minor beneficial effect in reducing oral ulcerations in patients undergoing chemotherapy (122). Colostrum contains antimicrobial and growth factors that, by fighting infection and stimulating cellular proliferation, may be used as adjuvant therapy for treating the intestinal mucosa in combination with or following chemotherapy in order to reduce the detrimental effects of chemotherapic drugs in tissues (10,12,68,94,123,124). Finally, BC can reduce body weight loss associated with the treatment (125,126).…”

“…Furthermore, an in vitro study showed that BC increased proliferation and cell migration of RIE-1 and HT-29 cells (136). Colostrum reduces gastric and intestinal lesions, permeability of the intestinal wall, bacterial translocation and shortening of villi (124,137,138). In human volunteers, the co-administration of BC and indomethacin reduced gut permeability in respect to the control group that only received the anti-inflammatory drug (137).…”

“…Various models have been used to evaluate the effect of colostrum in reducing intestinal lesions and stimulating their repair (64, 124,[134][135][136]. With regard to indomethacin-induced enteropathy, both prefeeding and postfeeding mice with BC facilitated the growth of intestinal villi, thus indicating preventive and healing effects (124). Colostrum-based supplements reduced gut damage and bacterial translocation in rats caused by diclofenac (134).…”

“…BC contains various growth factors that can stimulate the healing of ulcers as well as other compounds that can control inflammatory response, infections and epithelial barrier functions and are useful in the event of gastrointestinal injuries (68, [131][132][133]. Various models have been used to evaluate the effect of colostrum in reducing intestinal lesions and stimulating their repair (64, 124,[134][135][136]. With regard to indomethacin-induced enteropathy, both prefeeding and postfeeding mice with BC facilitated the growth of intestinal villi, thus indicating preventive and healing effects (124).…”

A Preparation of Cow's Late Colostrum Fraction Containing αs1-Casein Promoted the Proliferation of Cultured Rat Intestinal IEC-6 Epithelial Cells

“…10) We also observed that SCBLC stimulated the proliferation of immature epithelial cells in the intestinal crypt of the small intestine in mice when fed for 1 week. 11) Thereafter, with regard to indomethacin-induced enteropathy, both pre-feeding and postfeeding with SCBLC facilitated the growth of intestinal villi. 11) SCBLC inhibits the binding of norovirus-like particles to human intestinal Caco-2 cell.…”