Effect of cow's milk with different PUFA n-6: n-3 ratios on performance, serum lipid profile, and blood parameters of grower gilts.

The concern with human health has increased the interest in producing foods enriched with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), directly or naturally, by inclusion in the animals' diet. The positive effects such as antithrombotic, anti-inflammatory, and hypolipidemic have been observed in pigs and rats, used as human models for study. The present study evaluated the effect of cow's milk with different lipid profiles on performance, serum fatty acid profile, biochemical analysis, and a complete blood count of gilts used as a human model. At 34 days, thirty gilts were equally distributed in three treatments. Experimental treatments were milk from cows without the oil supplementation (C), milk from cows fed an enriched diet with linseed oil (n-3), and milk from cows fed an enriched diet with soybean oil (n-6). Milk supplementation was performed until 190 days old, provided once in the morning. The n-3 and n-6 milk reduced the concentration of myristic acid in the blood and increased the leukocytes. Milk enriched with n-3 compared to n-6 reduced the stearic acid. In conclusion, milk with a better PUFA profile can reduce saturated fatty acids in the blood and alter the concentration of cells in the defense system.

Effects of the Consumption of Milk Biofortified with Selenium, Vitamin E, and Different Fatty Acid Profile on Immune Response in the Elderly.

SCOPE: Nutrition is a major contributing factor for immunocompetence. The aim was to assess the immune status of older people after consuming milk produced by lactating cows fed with one of the following diets: control diet (C), C + vitamin E + selenium (C + A), C + sunflower oil (C + O), and C + sunflower oil + vitamin E + selenium (A + O). METHODS AND RESULTS: Sixty elderly people received one of these biofortified milks for 12 weeks. Immune response was assessed by measurement of the expression of COX-1, COX-2, MCP-1, PPAR (δ, α, and ß/δ) genes, neutrophil production of oxygen reactive species induced by immune complexes, neutrophil phagocytosis and lytic activity of the alternative pathway of the complement system, and cytokine levels. Variables were assessed before and after treatment. Our findings showed stability of some inflammatory mediators (complement activity and neutrophils burst) in treatment groups, except complement activity in C + A, and an increase of these markers in C, especially reactive oxygen species production and phagocytic activity. TNF-α was significantly increased in all groups. In C + A, IL-4 and IL-2 increased after treatment, and in the group that received the milk produced by cows fed with "O" diet, CCL20 and IL-27 increased. CONCLUSION: Overall, as compared to C, milk biofortification was associated with stabilization of the activity of alternative complement pathway and the neutrophils burst, and modulated different cytokines levels.