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D. A. GINGERICH¹, Y. Z. Lee, K. Kiser, J. D. Strobel, J. Lange, C. McPhillips, J. P. Fuhrer, and R. C. Stohrer. (1) SMBI, Suite 400, 6954 Cornell Road, Cincinnati, OH 45242

We have, over the years, described therapeutic benefits of milk, developed proprietary methods of enhancing its bioactivity, and verified health benefits in clinical trials. Traditionally, the bioactivity in milk is attributed to high MW proteins including antibodies, casein, lactoferrin, TGF-b2, etc., with their well-known biological effects. We have discovered that milk also contains novel, low MW, dialyzable, non-protein micronutrients that are bioactive, and have demonstrated anti-inflammatory and anti-hypertensive activities of these micronutrients.

We recently developed a proprietary method of producing milk protein concentrate which preferentially concentrates both high and low MW classes of bioactivity in a single nutraceutical ingredient, Stolle Milk Protein Concentrate (SMPC). We have tested SMPC for anti-inflammatory and anti-hypertensive activities in standard pharmacological models including the rat paw edema test, the 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) mouse ear inflammation model, and the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) model. To summarize our results: 1. Rat paw edema: SMPC inhibits swelling significantly (p<0.05) at doses as low as 10 mg/kg when given by gavage one hour before carrageenan challenge. 2. Mouse ear edema: Organic extracts of SMPC applied topically to TPA-stimulated ears inhibit swelling by 60% compared to untreated controls. 3. Blood pressure: SMPC fed to SHR rats at 2% wt/wt of chow significantly (p<0.001) reduced blood pressure over the 6-week study period.

These and other results indicate that bioactivity in milk, previously shown to be clinically useful, has indeed been captured in SMPC. SMPC, therefore, has nutraceutical potential for inflammatory conditions (e.g. arthritis), cardiovascular health, etc. as an ingredient in food or beverage products.