CLINICAL AND INVESTIGATIVE MEDICINE, VOL. 11,.NO. 4,.PP 271-278,. 1988.

The Immunoenhancing Property Of Dietary Whey Protein Concentrate

Gustavo Bounous1,2, Patricia A.L. Kongshavn1,3 and Phil Gold1,4

1The Montreal General Hospital Research Institute, 2Departments of Surgery, 3Physiology, and 4Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec

(ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT SUBMITTED OCTOBER 22, 1987: ACCEPTED IN REVISED FORM JANUARY 25, 1988)

ABSTRACT - The plaque-forming cell response to sheep red blood cells was found to be enhanced in mice fed a formula diet containing 20 g lactalbumin /100 g diet in comparison to mice fed equivalent formula diets of similar nutritional efficiency containing 20 g / 100 g diet of either casein, soy, wheat or corn protein, egg albumin, beef or fish protein, Spirulina maxima, or Scenedesmus protein, or Purina mouse chow. This effect was manifest after 2 weeks and persisted for at least 8 weeks of dietary treatment. Mixing lactalbumin with either casein or soy protein in a 20 g protein / 100 g diet formula significantly enhanced the immune response in comparison to that of mice fed diets containing 20% soy protein or casein.