[Evaluation of the antiradical protector effect of multifermented milk serum with reiterated dosage in rats]

Epidemiological and experimental studies suggest that dietary milk products may exert an inhibitory effect on the development of several types of tumors. Some recent experiments in rodents indicate that the antitumor activity of the dairy product is in the protein fraction and more specifically in the whey protein component of milk. It has been demonstrated that whey protein diets result in increased glutathione (GSH) concentration in a number of tissues, and that some of the beneficial effects of whey protein intake are abrogated by inhibition of GSH synthesis. Whey protein is particularly rich in substrates for GSH synthesis. It has been suggested that whey protein may be exerting its effect on carcinogenesis and VIH infection by enhancing GSH concentration. Lactoferrin, one of the proteins contained in whey has aise been studied in this way. It has been suggested that lactoferrin binding may play an important role in maintaining, optimal mononuclear phagocyte function, thus protecting adjacent tissue against phagocyte derived radicals. Moreover it has been demonstrated by one of us that the level of plasma lactoferrin were decreased in HIV-1 infected patients in relation to the progression of the disease. The aim of the present study is to evaluate in rat the reactive oxygen species, scavenger activities (ROSSA) of red blood cells (RBCs) with a multifermented whey (SK 344), by repeated doses during 16 days. This study has permitted to demonstrate in vivo that the SK 344 has an excellent ROSSA corresponding to a limitation of the lipoperoxidation of RBCs membranes by singlet oxygen and nitric oxide. We can conclude that whey protein, lactoferrin and multifermented whey are good candidates as dietary inhibitors of the oxidative stress and should be considered as potential medicinal foods in various pathologies as HIV infection and cancer.