Anti-inflammatory activities of enzymatic (alcalase) hydrolysate of a whey protein concentrate

Abstract

This study was designed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects of whey protein hydrolysate (WPH) in mice. Hydrolysis for this experiment was conducted in a pH-stat at 20% degree of hydrolysis. Carrageenan-induced paw edema, peritonitis induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and acetic acid-induced writhing were tested to investigate anti-inflammatory activity. Overall, WPH inhibited carrageenan-induced mice paw edema significantly with doses of 30 mg/kg (p < 0.001), 100 mg/kg (p < 0.01) and 300 mg/kg (p < 0.001) at 3 h post carrageenan. The inhibitory values of edema were 60.34, 39.65 and 68.96%, respectively. After 4 h and an intraperitoneal injection of LPS (100 μg/kg), WPH further inhibited leukocyte recruitment to the peritoneal cavity of mice at a dose of 300 mg/kg (p < 0.05). In a number of the writhing episodes, WPH reduced contortions using a dose of 300 mg/kg. These results indicate that the hydrolysate obtained by treatment with alcalase demonstrated anti-inflammatory activity in the experimental models. All the anti-inflammatory actions obtained were also suggested to be due the presence of glutamine.

Key words: Whey protein, proteases, hydrolysate, anti-inflammatory activity, mice.