title: Immunomodulatory effects of dietary whey proteins in mice.
abstract: Studies on the immunomodulatory properties of dietary whey proteins in mice are reported. Ingestion of bovine milk whey proteins, either as a supplement in an adequately balanced commercial diet or as the only protein source in a balanced diet, consistently enhanced secondary humoral antibody responses following systemic immunization with ovalbumin, when compared with other protein sources such as soyabean protein isolate and ovine colostral whey proteins. After 5-8 weeks of feeding, dietary milk whey proteins enhanced cell-mediated immune responses as revealed by footpad delayed-type hypersensitivity responses, and concanavalin A-induced spleen cell proliferative responses. To monitor nutritional effects of milk whey proteins, live weight, leucocyte counts and clinical changes of diet-fed mice were examined. The present results confirm other previous results that dietary bovine milk whey proteins have immunoenhancing properties in mice and these properties are unlikely to be related solely to the nutritional effects.
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Division of Animal Health, Armidale, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Watson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000187:drug effects; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000494:pharmacology; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006968:Hypersensitivity, Delayed; D007109:Immunity / Q000187:drug effects*; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000187:drug effects; D007114:Immunization; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008892:Milk / Q000737:chemistry; D008894:Milk Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010047:Ovalbumin / Q000276:immunology; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology; D000067816:Whey Proteins
chemical_list: D004044:Dietary Proteins; D008894:Milk Proteins; D000067816:Whey Proteins; D003208:Concanavalin A; D010047:Ovalbumin