High-protein diets containing different milk protein fractions differently influence energy intake and adiposity in the rat.

This study was designed to determine whether (1) protein type and (2) the dietary carbohydrate to lipid content affected daily energy intake, body weight and adiposity in rats receiving high-protein diets ad libitum over a 25 d period. Each of the ten groups (n 8) consumed ad libitum one of the diets described below. A normal protein diet (P14C56L30, containing whole milk protein) and nine high-protein diets were used. The composition of the high-protein diets varied in terms of two parameters: macronutrient composition and protein type. Three macronutrient compositions (P55C35L10, P55C15L30 and P55L45) combined with three protein types (Milk, Whey and betaLac) allowed us to test nine diets. The results show that both protein type (betaLac > Whey > Milk) and the carbohydrate to lipid ratio (P55L45>P55C35L10 or P55C15L30) modulated reductions in energy intake, body weight and adiposity in rats receiving high-protein diets ad libitum, when compared with rats fed a normal diet under the same conditions. By contrast, blood lipid profiles were mainly influenced by the carbohydrate to lipid ratio (P55C15L30>P55L45 or P55C35L10). Moreover, betaLac protein was also the most efficient in tending to preserve lean body mass at the expense of fat mass, and improve blood metabolism hormones (insulin, leptin). Taken together, the present results show that whey-derived protein sources, and particularly beta-lactoglobulin-enriched fraction, are of considerable value because of their ability to reduce both body weight gain and the adiposity index.

Acute ingestion of dietary proteins improves post-exercise liver glutathione in rats in a dose-dependent relationship with their cysteine content.

Dietary sulfur amino acids affect glutathione synthesis, but their acute effect under conditions of oxidative stress is unknown. We assessed the effect of the selective ingestion of alpha-lactalbumin, a cysteine-rich protein, on glutathione homeostasis before a single bout of exhaustive exercise. One hour before a 2-h run on a treadmill, untrained rats ingested a meal enriched with either milk protein (TMP), alpha-lactalbumin-enriched milk protein (alpha-LAC), glucose (GLUC) or milk protein plus 150 mg N-acetyl-L-cysteine, a pharmacologic cysteine donor (NAC). Glutathione status was monitored in the blood and measured postexercise in the liver and heart. A group of fed sedentary rats was used as a control (CON). Blood total glutathione levels declined over time in all test groups. Although postexercise heart glutathione did not differ among groups, postexercise liver glutathione was curvilinearly related to prior cysteine intake (R2=0.999, P<0.05). In alpha-LAC rats, liver glutathione was 60-80% higher than in GLUC or CON rats (P<0.05) and did not differ from that of NAC rats. Cysteine from dietary proteins exhibits a considerable, dose-dependent and acute stimulatory effect on liver glutathione during exercise but does not immediately benefit whole-body glutathione homeostasis, presumably because of an overlap between the postprandial and exercise-related states.