Analysis of the effect of milk from cows with A1A1 and A2A2 genotypes for beta-casein, biofortified or not, in piglets post weaning

• Grant number: 22/06294-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: February 01, 2023
• End date: January 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Products of Animal Origin Inspection
• Principal Investigator: Ana Maria Centola Vidal
• Grantee: Ana Maria Centola Vidal
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Pirassununga , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Arlindo Saran Netto ; Cesar Augusto Pospissil Garbossa ; Vera Letticie de Azevedo Ruiz

Abstract

Milk is considered a food with essential nutrients in the diet, among the milk proteins, ²-casein (²-CN), which has among its most common variants the alleles A1 and A2. ²-Casomorphin-7 is an opioid, product of ²-CN digestion, which is produced up to four times more in the presence of variant A1, and can cause physiological disorders related to the gut-brain axis. Milk from cows with A2A2 genotypes tends to be an alternative to cases of food restriction on milk consumption with an ²-CN allele 1. Antioxidants, such as selenium and vitamin E, act positively on the human immune system and disease control. Animal models promote promising results of milk consumption and are a translational bridge in human-oriented studies, being important the use of an animal species with greater similarity to investigate and sanction health doubts, mainly for ethical reasons. In this context, this project aims to evaluate the effects of milk from cows with contrasting genotypes (A1A1 and A2A2) to ²-CN, biofortified with antioxidants or not, on the gastrointestinal, immunological, nervous and microbiome systems of the intestinal content of piglets, using them as an experimental model of human applicability, as well as physicochemical and microbiome analyses of different milks. (AU)