An ancillary study of participants in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial suggests that ingestion of bovine lactoferrin promotes expression of interferon alpha in the human colon

AbstractStudies using animal models have demonstrated that ingestion of bovine lactoferrin (bLF) is able to induce cytokine expression in the intestine and inhibit carcinogenesis in the colon and other organs of experimental animals. Consequently, a clinical trial was conducted in the National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan to determine whether ingestion of bLF affected the growth of colorectal polyps in humans. The Tokyo-trial found that ingestion of 3.0 g bLF suppressed the growth of colorectal polyps and increased the level of serum human lactoferrin in participants 63 years old or younger. The present study is a complementary study to the Tokyo-trial to determine if a change in the expression of one or more cytokines could be detected in the colon of the Tokyo-trial participants after ingesting bLF. We found that daily ingestion of 3.0 g bLF promoted the expression of interferon alpha in the colon of the Tokyo-trial participants

Time-Dependent Expression Profiles of microRNAs and mRNAs in Rat Milk Whey

<div><p>Functional RNAs, such as microRNA (miRNA) and mRNA, are present in milk, but their roles are unknown. To clarify the roles of milk RNAs, further studies using experimental animals such as rats are needed. However, it is unclear whether rat milk also contains functional RNAs and what their time dependent expression profiles are. Thus, we prepared total RNA from whey isolated from rat milk collected on days 2, 9, and 16 postpartum and analyzed using microarrays and quantitative PCR. The concentration of RNA in colostrum whey (day 2) was markedly higher than that in mature milk whey (days 9 and 16). Microarray analysis detected 161 miRNAs and 10,948 mRNA transcripts. Most of the miRNAs and mRNA transcripts were common to all tested milks. Finally, we selected some immune- and development-related miRNAs and mRNAs, and analysed them by quantitative PCR (in equal sample volumes) to determine their time-dependent changes in expression in detail. Some were significantly more highly expressed in colostrum whey than in mature milk whey, but some were expressed equally. And mRNA expression levels of some cytokines and hormones did not reflect the protein levels. It is still unknown whether RNAs in milk play biological roles in neonates. However, our data will help guide future <i>in vivo</i> studies using experimental animals such as rats.</p></div

Quantitative PCR analysis of selected miRNAs in equal volumes of whey and serum.

<p>An aliquot of total RNA from 0.5-µL was used for each miRNA. Values are the mean ± SEM (n = 3). Means without letters in common differ (<i>P</i><0.05, Tukey-Kramer HSD test).</p

Functions of transcripts detected in whey.

<p>Transcripts detected by microarray analysis were examined by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. Ranks were determined by the right-tailed Fisher's Exact Test and were corrected by Benjamini-Hochberg Multiple Testing Correction.</p><p>B-H <i>P</i>-value  =  Benjamini-Hochberg <i>P</i>-value.</p