Colostrum

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Beestings redirects here: or you may have wanted bee sting or beasting.
Not to be confused with claustrum.

Colostrum (also known colloquially as beestings, or first milk) is a form of milk produced by the mammary glands of mammals in late pregnancy. Most species will generate colostrum within one day of giving birth.

Contents

[edit] Effects in infants

Newborns have very small digestive systems, and colostrum delivers its nutrients in a very concentrated low-volume form. It has a mild laxative effect, encouraging the passing of the baby's first stool, which is called meconium. This clears excess bilirubin, a waste product of dead red blood cells which is produced in large quantities at birth due to blood volume reduction, from the infant's body and helps prevent jaundice. Colostrum is known to contain antibodies called immunoglobulins such as IgA, IgG and IgM in mammals. IgA is absorbed through the intestinal epithelium, travels through the blood, and is secreted onto other Type 1 mucosal surfaces. These are the major components of the adaptive immune system. Other immune components of colostrum include the major components of the innate immune system, such as lactoferrin,[1] lysozyme,[2] lactoperoxidase,[3] complement,[4] and proline-rich polypeptides (PRP).[5] A number of cytokines (small messenger peptides that control the functioning of the immune system) are found in colostrum as well,[6] including interleukins,[7] tumor necrosis factor,[8] chemokines,[9] and others. Colostrum also contains a number of growth factors, such as insulin-like growth factors I[10] and II,[11] transforming growth factors alpha,[12] beta 1 and beta 2,[13][14] fibroblast growth factors,[15] epidermal growth factor,[16] granulocyte-macrophage-stimulating growth factor,[17] platelet-derived growth factor,[18] vascular endothelial growth factor,[19] and colony-stimulating factor-1.[20]

Chemically, colostrum is very rich in proteins, vitamin A, and sodium chloride, but contains lower amounts of carbohydrates, lipids, and potassium than normal milk. The most pertinent bioactive components in colostrum are growth factors and antimicrobial factors. The antibodies in colostrum provide passive immunity while growth factors stimulate the development of the gut. They are passed to the neonate and provide the first protection against pathogens. The passive immunity from the mother gets transferred to the newborn.[21]

[edit] Human consumption

Literally hundreds of scientific, peer-reviewed research studies have been done on bovine colostrum and its components in humans. It has been shown to be both safe and effective for all ages and for numerous disease states and disease prevention.[22] It is particularly effective in healing the gastrointestinal tract from the damage that modern life (medications, alcohol, stress, etc) causes in virtually everyone living in an industrialized society.[23][24][25][26]

Bovine colostrum from pasture-fed cows contains immunoglobulins specific to many human pathogens, including Eschericia coli, Cryptosporidium parvum, Shigella flexneri, Salmonella, Staphylococcus,[27] and rotavirus (causes diarrhea in infants). In fact, colostrum is one of the few treatment modalities available that is effective against viruses, as antibiotics are not, and there are no side effects from its use. Before the development of antibiotics, colostrum was the main source of immunoglobulins used to fight infections. In fact, when Albert Sabin made his first oral vaccine against polio, the immunoglobulin he used came from bovine colostrum.[28] When antibiotics began to appear, interest in colostrum waned, but now that antibiotic-resistant strains of pathogens have developed, interest is once again returning to natural alternatives to antibiotics, namely, colostrum.[29]

Colostrum is most effective when used as a disease preventative and health promoter. For example, with all the interest in swine flu and the calls for vaccination against it, a study was done in 2007 in which volunteers were given either a flu vaccination or colostrum. Those who received the vaccination were three times more likely to come down with flu than those who received colostrum.[30]

Colostrum has been used by athletes to improve their performance,[31] decrease recovery time,[32] and prevent sickness during peak performance levels.[33] Taking advantage of colostrum supplementation, the Australian Olympic swim team won more gold medals than China in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic games.[34] Colostrum burns fat while building lean muscle.[35]

IGF-1 in colostrum promotes weight loss as it is needed by the body to metabolize fat. As our bodies age, they produce less IGF-1, which makes it more difficult to lose weight and can often lead to the development of type 2 diabetes and even dementia.[36] People with eating disorders also have low levels of IGF-1,[37] as do obese individuals.[38] Supplementation with colostrum, which is rich in IGF-1, can be a useful part of a weight reduction program. Although IGF-1 is not absorbed intact by the body, it does stimulate the production of IGF-1 when taken as a supplement.[39]

Colostrum helps ameliorate the effects of aging due to its many antioxidant components, such as glutathione,[40] lactoferrin,[41] and hemopexin, which binds free heme in the body.[42]

[edit] Developments in colostrum use

[edit] Hyperimmune colostrum

Hyperimmune colostrum was an early attempt to boost the effectiveness of natural bovine colostrum by immunizing cows with a specific pathogen and then collecting the colostrum after the cow gave birth. This initially appeared very promising as antibodies did appear towards the specific pathogens or antigens that were used in the original challenge. However, upon closer examination and comparison, it was found that IgG levels in natural colostrum towards 19 specific human pathogens were just as high as in hyperimmune colostrum, and natural colostrum nearly always had higher antibody titers than did the hyperimmune version.[43] Therefore the usefulness of hyperimmune colostrum is questionable.

[edit] Proline-rich Polypeptides (PRP)

These small peptide immune signaling peptides were independently discovered in colostrum and other sources, such as blood plasma, in the United States[44] and Poland [45]. Hence they appear under various names in the literature, including transfer factor, colostrinin(e), and PRP. They function as signal transducing molecules which have the unique effect of modulating the immune system, turning it up when the body comes under attack from pathogens or other disease agents, and damping it when the danger is eliminated or neutralized[46]. At first thought to actually transfer immunity from one immune system to another, it now appears that PRP simply stimulates cell-mediated immunity[47].

PRP-rich preparations from bovine colostrum have shown great promise in the treatment of many disease states, including viral infections[48] (including many difficult to treat with normal pharmaceutical means, such as herpes viruses[49] and HIV,[50]) as well as difficult to treat bacterial and fungal infections like Mycobacterium fortuitum[51] and Mycobacterium tuberculosis[52](which cause lung infections and TB), cryptosporidosis in AIDS patients,[53], Candida[54] various forms of cancer, such as Hodgkin's disease,[55] osteogenic sarcoma,[56] prostate cancer,[57] and others. As an immune modulator, PRP is also effective in disease states characterized by an overactive immune system, such as allergies,[58][59] asthma,[60] and autoimmune diseases.[61]. Interestingly, PRP has also proven to be effective in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease[62]and epilepsy.[63]

[edit] References

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  3. ^ Reiter, B. The lactoperoxidase-thiocyanate-hydrogen peroxide antibacterium system. Ciba Foundation Symposia 65:285-294 (1978)
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  7. ^ Hagiwara, op cit
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  18. ^ Playford RJ, op cit
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  51. ^ Wilson GB, Metcalf JF, Fudenberg HH. Treatment of Mycobacterium fortuitum pulmonary infection with transfer factor (TF): new methodology for evaluating TF potency and predicting clinical response. Clinical Immunology and Immunopathology 23(2):478-491 (1982).
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  55. ^ Phillips J, Boiucheix C, Pizza G, Sartorio C, Viza D. Effect of in vitro produced transfer factor on Hodgkin patients. British Journal of Haematology 38(3):430-431 (1978).
  56. ^ Levin AS, Byers VS, Fudenberg HH, Wybran J, Hackett AJ, Johnston JO, Spitler LE. Osteogenic sarcoma. Immunologic parameters before and during immunotherapy with tumor-specific transfer factor. Journal of Clinical Investigation 55(3):487-499 (1975)
  57. ^ Pizza G, De Vinci C, Cuzzocrea D, Menniti D, Aiello E, Maver P, Corrado G, Romagnoli P, Dragoni E, LoConte G, Riolo U, Palareti A, Zucchelli P, Fornarola V, Viza D. A preliminary report on the use of transfer factor for treating stage D3 hormone-unresponsive metastatic prostate cancer. Biotherapy 9(1-3):123-132 (1996)
  58. ^ Boldogh I, Aguilera-Aguirre L, Bacsi A, Choudhury BK, Saavedra-Molina A, Kruzel M. Colostrinin [PRP] Decreases Hypersensitivity and Allergic Responses to Common Allergens. International Archives of Allergy and Immunology 146(4):298-306 (2008)
  59. ^ Keech A. Peptide Immunotherapy: The Use of Bovine Colostrum Proline-Rich Polypeptides in Cytokine Modulation for the Alternative Relief of Allergic Symptoms. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 119(1): S260-S260 (2008)
  60. ^ Khan A, Sellars W, Grater W, Graham MF, Pflanzer J, Antonetti A, Bailey J, Hill NO. The usefulness of transfer factor in asthma associated with frequent infections. Annals of Allergy 40(4):229-232 (1978).
  61. ^ Lawrence HS. Transfer factor and autoimmune disease. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 124(1):56-60 (1965)
  62. ^ Bilikiewicz A, Gaus W. Colostrinin (a naturally occurring, proline-rich, polypeptide mixture) in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease 6(1):17-26 (2004)
  63. ^ Simko M, Mokran V, Nyulassy S. [Immunomodulatory therapy of epilepsy with transfer factor] Bratislavské Lekárske Listy 98(4):234-237 (1997). Eight epileptic patients treated for 3 months with transfer factor (PRPs) had significant reduction of epileptic episodes

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colostrum"