Digestion of the zinc in human milk, cow's milk and a commercial babyfood: some implications for human infant nutrition

Composition, Structure, and Digestive Dynamics of Milk From Different Species-A Review

Background: The traditional dairy-cattle-based industry is becoming increasingly diversified with milk and milk products from non-cattle dairy species. The interest in non-cattle milks has increased because there have been several anecdotal reports about the nutritional benefits of these milks and reports both of individuals tolerating and digesting some non-cattle milks better than cattle milk and of certain characteristics that non-cattle milks are thought to share in common with human milk. Thus, non-cattle milks are considered to have potential applications in infant, children, and elderly nutrition for the development of specialized products with better nutritional profiles. However, there is very little scientific information and understanding about the digestion behavior of non-cattle milks. Scope and Approach: The general properties of some non-cattle milks, in comparison with human and cattle milks, particularly focusing on their protein profile, fat composition, hypoallergenic potential, and digestibility, are reviewed. The coagulation behaviors of different milks in the stomach and their impact on the rates of protein and fat digestion are reviewed in detail. Key findings and Conclusions: Milk from different species vary in composition, structure, and physicochemical properties. This may be a key factor in their different digestion behaviors. The curds formed in the stomach during the gastric digestion of some non-cattle milks are considered to be relatively softer than those formed from cattle milk, which is thought to contribute to the degree to which non-cattle milks can be easily digested or tolerated. The rates of protein and fat delivery to the small intestine are likely to be a function of the macro- and micro-structure of the curd formed in the stomach, which in turn is affected by factors such as casein composition, fat globule and casein micelle size distribution, and protein-to-fat ratio. However, as no information on the coagulation behavior of non-cattle milks in the human stomach is available, in-depth scientific studies are needed in order to understand the impact of compositional and structural differences on the digestive dynamics of milk from different species.

Life Course Perspective: evidence for the role of nutrition

The "Life Course Perspective" proposes that environmental exposures, including biological, physical, social, and behavioral factors, as well as life experiences, throughout the entire life span, influence health outcomes in current and future generations. Nutrition, from preconception to adulthood, encompasses all of these factors and has the potential to positively or negatively shape the individual or population health trajectories and their intergenerational differences. This paper applies the T2E2 model (timing, timeline, equity and environment), developed by Fine and Kotelchuck, as an overlay to examine advances in nutritional science, as well as the complex associations between life stages, nutrients, nutrigenomics, and access to healthy foods, that support the life course perspective. Examples of the application of nutrition to each of the four constructs are provided, as well as a strong recommendation for inclusion of nutrition as a key focal point for all health professionals as they address solutions to optimize health outcomes, both domestically and internationally. The science of nutrition provides strong evidence to support the concepts of the life course perspective. These findings lend urgency to the need to improve population health across the life span and over generations by ensuring ready access to micronutrient-dense foods, opportunities to balance energy intake with adequate physical activity and the need for biological, social, physical, and macro-level environments that support critical phases of human development. Recommendations for the application of the life course perspective, with a focus on the emerging knowledge of nutritional science, are offered in an effort to improve current maternal and child health programs, policies, and service delivery.

Bioavailability of zinc and its binding to casein in milks and formulas

Differences in zinc bioavailability among milk and formulas may be attributed to binding of zinc to various ligands. We determined the distribution of zinc and protein at different pHs and zinc and calcium concentrations. We used radiolabelled cow's milk, human milk, whey-predominant (WPF) and casein-predominant (CPF) infant formula. Lowering the pH changed zinc and protein distribution: zinc shifted from pellet (casein) to whey in cow's milk, from fat to whey in human milk and from fat and pellet to whey in formulas. Protein shifted from whey to pellet in human milk and from whey and pellet to fat in formulas. Increasing zinc and calcium concentrations shifted protein and zinc from pellet to whey for cow's milk and from whey and pellet to fat for the formulas. Protein distribution was not affected by calcium or zinc addition in human milk or CPF, while zinc shifted from whey to fat in human milk and from fat and pellet to whey in CPF. Zinc and calcium binding to isolated bovine or human casein increased with pH. At 500 mg/L of zinc, bovine casein bound 32.0 +/- 1.8 and human casein 10.0 +/- 0.9 mg zinc/g protein. At 500 mg/L of calcium, calcium was preferentially bound over zinc. Adding calcium and zinc resulted in 32.0 +/- 1.8 mg zinc/g bound to bovine casein and 17.0 +/- 0.8 mg zinc/g to human casein, while calcium binding was low. Suckling rat pups dosed with 65Zn labelled infant diets were killed and individual tissues were gamma counted. Lower zinc bioavailability was found for bovine milk at pH = 4.0 (%65Zn in liver = 18.7+1.4) when compared to WPF (22.8 +/- 1.6) or human milk (26.9 +/- 0.8). Lowering the pH further decreased zinc bioavailability from human milk, but not from cow's milk or WPF. Knowledge of the compounds binding minerals and trace elements in infant formulas is essential for optimizing zinc bioavailability.

Influence of heat treatment of casein in presence of reducing sugars on Zn solubility and Zn uptake by Caco-2 cells after in vitro digestion

The effect of the heat treatment of casein in presence of reducing sugars on some aspects of Zn availability was investigated. Samples were prepared by mixing casein with glucose-fructose, and were used unprocessed (C) or heated (HC). Changes in Zn speciation after the in vitro digestion of the samples, both as part of a diet and in isolation, were studied. The uptake of soluble Zn from the digested samples was investigated in Caco-2 cells. After in vitro digestion, the percentage of precipitated Zn was significantly higher with the HC sample, both when digested alone and as a part of the diet. In assays with Caco-2 cells, a significant decrease in Zn uptake was observed when the uptake buffer contained the sample C digest, by comparison with the control buffer, without casein digest. When the digested heated mixture was added, Zn uptake by the cells was significantly lower than in either of the two other cases. It may be concluded that the heat treatment of casein in the presence of glucose-fructose has a negative effect on Zn availability because, after in vitro digestion, Zn insolubilization was enhanced and Zn uptake by the enterocyte was impaired, compared with the unheated mixture. In addition, the usefulness of Caco-2 cells in this kind of research has been shown.

Zinc transport in Caco-2 cells and zinc balance in rats: influence of the heat treatment of a casein-glucose-fructose mixture

The effects of the heat treatment of casein in the presence of glucose-fructose on Zn bioavailability were studied. Changes in Zn speciation were compared after in vitro digestion of heated (HC) and unheated mixture (C) alone and as part of the diet. The uptake and transport of digested soluble Zn was investigated in Caco-2 cells grown in bicameral chambers; balance studies were done in rats fed diets containing the different samples. After in vitro digestion, the precipitated Zn was significantly higher in HC than in C. In assays with Caco-2 cells, the amount of Zn transferred from the apical to the basolateral chamber was significantly greater when the culture medium contained raw or heated casein. However, because a larger proportion of Zn was precipitated by in vitro digestion, Zn utilization was less efficient in the presence of casein. In biological experiments, food efficiency of the heated casein-glucose-fructose diet was lower, and feeding this diet increased the urinary Zn excretion and lowered Zn absorption and retention. The effects of browning products generated during food processing should be taken into account, especially in diets containing marginally adequate levels of Zn, to prevent possible deficiency.

Estimation of selenium bioavailability from human, cow's, goat and sheep milk by an in vitro method

The trace element selenium (Se) has been recognized to be essential for human health. The dependence of infants on milk as their principal food source, generally low in Se content, makes them more vulnerable to inadequate Se intake. The present study compared the Se availability as estimated by a simulated gastrointestinal digestion procedure, of human milk and some common ruminant milks, namely cow, goat and sheep milk. The Se availability of human milk (11.1%) was significantly higher compared to that of cow (6.8%), goat (6.2%) and sheep milk ( < 2%). Further study suggested that the Se availability may be related to the gastric digestibility of protein. The high Se availability of human milk might be attributed to the high gastric digestibility of human milk protein. It was found that removal of the milk fat fraction increases the Se availability.

Estimation of the bioavailability of zinc and calcium from human, cow's, goat, and sheep milk by an in vitro method

The availability of zinc and calcium from human, cow's, goat, and sheep milk is evaluated by an in vitro method that involves a simulated human gastrointestinal digestion followed by measurement of dialyzability of zinc and calcium. Zinc availability of milk showed the highest value for human milk (15.0%) and the lowest for sheep milk (1.0%), in both whole and skim milk. Calcium availability of the different types of milk did not differ significantly and ranged between 18 and 23%. No significant differences in availability between whole and skim milk were found for both elements, except for zinc in cow's milk.

Minerals and trace elements in milk

The nutritional roles, requirements, and metabolism and the quantitative relationship between dietary intakes and health for a number of the minerals and trace elements have been more clearly defined in recent years, but there are still considerable deficiencies in our understanding of these issues, e.g., the significance of calcium in the etiology and treatment of osteoporosis and hypertension. Reliable information is now available on the content, and the principal factors affecting it, of most of the minerals and trace elements in human and cow's milks. However, for some of the trace elements, there is still a wide variation in reported values in the literature, which is due, at least in part, to analytical difficulties. The contribution of cow milk and milk products to the diet in Western countries is significant for sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, and iodine. Iodine is the only trace element for which there has been any suggestion of excessive amounts in cow milk. However, there is evidence of a decline in milk iodine concentrations in the United States in recent years, although the situation in other countries less clear. Breast milk usually has adequate mineral and trace element contents for feeding full-term infants, with the exceptions of fluoride, for which supplementation of infants is recommended, and of selenium in some countries, such as Finland and New Zealand, where maternal intakes are low. However, breast milk selenium contents have increased in these countries in recent years due to increased maternal selenium intakes. The concentrations of minerals and trace elements in infant formulas for full-term infants are generally higher than in human milk, and all appear to be more than adequate, with the possible exception of selenium, which may need to be increased in some formulas. Considerable changes in the mineral and trace element contents of formulas have been instituted in recent years in the light of improved knowledge of infant requirements. While the chemical forms of the macrominerals and some of the trace elements (iron, zinc, copper, and manganese) in milks are fairly well defined, the forms of many of the trace elements are unknown. Sodium, potassium, chloride, and iodine are believed to be almost totally absorbed from milks and infant formulas.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Concentration of zinc, copper and metallocalorie ratio in bottle-milks prepared by poor urban families

The concentration of zinc and copper and metallocalorie ratios were measured in samples of bottle-milks fed to infants from a poor urban settlement in Brasilia, Brazil. The bottle-milks fed to infants under 1 year of age from a sample of 40 families were analysed for zinc and copper. Zinc and copper concentrations ranged from 0.7 to 11.5 mg/l (mean 3.37) and from 0.09 to 1.47 mg/l (mean 0.43), respectively. The mean metallocalorie ratio was 1.26 mg/MJ (5.29 mg/1000 kcal) for zinc and 0.17 mg/MJ (0.73 mg/1000 kcal) for copper. Based on minimum recommendations for formulae, 55% of the bottle-milks had both zinc and copper concentrations below 3.2 and 0.4 mg/l, respectively. However, owing to added sugar and high caloric concentrations in the milk preparations, metal:calorie ratios were below the minimum recommendations in 72.5 and 62.5% of cases for zinc and copper, respectively. The variation in zinc and copper concentrations in the milks prepared by mothers/infant caretakers under unsupervized home conditions is wide. Owing to the low availability of zinc in cow's milk preparations, it is of concern that more than half the bottle preparations had zinc and copper concentrations/ratios below the minimum recommendations.

Zinc binding in bovine milk

About 90% of the Zn in bovine skim milk was sedimented by ultracentrifugation at 100,000 g for 1 h. About half of the non-sedimentable Zn was non-dialysable, indicating that it was associated with protein, probably non-sedimented casein micelles. Casein micelles incorporated considerable amounts of Zn added to skim milk as ZnCl2, and at Zn concentrations greater than or equal to 16 mM coagulation of casein micelles occurred. Ca was displaced from casein micelles by increasing ZnCl2 concentration and approximately 40% of micellar Ca was displaced by 16 mM-ZnCl2. Micellar Zn, Ca and Pi were gradually rendered soluble as the pH of milk was lowered and at pH 4.6 greater than 95% of the Zn, Ca and Pi were non-sedimentable. These changes were largely reversible by readjustment of the pH to 6.7. About 40% of the total Zn in skim milk was non-sedimentable at 0.2 mM-EDTA and most of the remainder was gradually rendered soluble by EDTA over the concentration range 1-50 mM. This indicates that there are two distinct micellar Zn fractions. No micellar Ca or Pi was solubilized at EDTA concentrations up to 1.0 mM, indicating that both colloidal calcium phosphate (CCP) and casein micelles remained intact under conditions where the more loosely bound micellar Zn fraction dissolved. Depletion of casein micelles of colloidal Ca and Pi by acidification and equilibrium dialysis resulted in removal of Zn, and in colloidal Pi-free milk non-dialysable Zn was reduced to 1.2 mg/l (approximately 32% of the original Zn). Thus, approximately 32% of the Zn in skim milk is directly bound to caseins, while approximately 63% is associated with CCP. Over 80% of the Zn in colloidal Pi-free milk was rendered soluble by 0.2 mM-EDTA, indicating that the casein-bound Zn is the loosely bound Zn fraction in casein micelles. A considerable fraction of the Zn in acid whey (pH 4.6) co-precipitated with Ca and Pi on raising the pH to 6.7 and heating for 2 h at 40 degrees C, indicating that insoluble Zn phosphate complexes form readily under these conditions. Studies on dialysis of milk against water, or dilution of milk or casein micelles with water, showed that CCP and its associated Zn is very stable and dissolves only very slowly at pH 6.6. The nature of Zn binding in casein micelles may help to explain the lower nutritional bioavailability of Zn in bovine milk and infant formulae compared with human milk.

Binding of zinc to bovine and human milk proteins

Zn binding by whole bovine and human casein and by purified bovine caseins and whey proteins was investigated by equilibrium dialysis. Bovine alpha s1-casein had the greatest Zn-binding capacity (approximately 11 atoms Zn/mol). Protein aggregation was observed as Zn concentration was increased and the protein precipitated at a free Zn concentration of 1.7 mM. Zn binding increased with increasing pH in the range 5.4-7.0 and decreased with increasing ionic strength. Competition between Zn and Ca was observed for binding to alpha s1-casein indicating common binding sites for these two metals. Bovine beta-casein bound up to 8 atoms Zn/mol and precipitated at a free Zn concentration of approximately 2.5 mM, while kappa-casein bound 1-2 atoms Zn/mol. Whole bovine and human casein bound 5-8 atoms Zn/mol and precipitated at a free Zn concentration of approximately 2.0 mM. Scatchard plots for Zn binding to caseins showed upward convexity, possibly due to Zn-induced association of caseins. Apparent average association constants (Kapp) for all caseins were similar (log Kapp 3.0-3.2). Enzymic dephosphorylation of alpha s1- or whole bovine casein markedly reduced, but did not eliminate, Zn binding. Thus, phosphoserine residues appeared to be the primary Zn-binding sites in caseins. With the exception of bovine serum albumin, which bound over 8 atoms Zn/mol, the bovine whey proteins, beta-lactoglobulin, alpha-lactalbumin and lactotransferrin, had little capacity for Zn binding.

An approach to assessing trace element bioavailability from milk in vitro. Extrinsic labeling and proteolytic degradation

Both in vitro and in vivo, the use of a radioisotope can significantly enhance the sensitivity of methods for trace element studies. An essential prerequisite for this approach, however, is that the added (extrinsic) radiolabel equilibrates with the native (cold) element within all compartments of the diet. By using ultracentrifugation, ultrafiltration, and gel filtration chromatography, we have shown that the method is valid for zinc, copper, and manganese when using milks and formulas. For iron, however, extrinsic labeling does not necessarily yield results similar to the native distribution. We have used extrinsic labeling to follow the distribution of Zn, Cu, and Mn between high molecular weight compounds (proteins) and low molecular weight complexes in human and bovine milk after in vitro proteolysis. Peptic digestion at various pHs and pancreatic digestion for varying times were used to mimic digestion in the infant. After limited proteolysis, a large proportion of trace minerals in human milk was found in the low molecular weight fraction, whereas in cow's milk a large proportion was bound to incompletely digested casein. These findings may, at least in part, explain the higher bioavailability of trace elements from human milk compared to cow's milk.

The intestinal transport of zinc studied using brush-border-membrane vesicles from the piglet

Brush-border-membrane vesicles were prepared from piglet small intestines and the uptake of 65Zn was studied using a rapid filtration assay. The mechanism of 65Zn uptake was complex and two processes were identified. In the first process, 65Zn uptake was rapid, reached equilibrium in 5-15 min and had an optimum pH of 7.5. The uptake was saturable and involved both binding to, and transport across, the membrane. The initial phase of 65Zn uptake (1 min incubation) approached saturation at high levels of substrate 65Zn and a Michaelis-Menten constant (Km) of 67.0 microM was calculated. Maximum uptake at equilibrium was approximately 100 nmol/mg protein. Cupric, ferrous and ferric ions had no effect on the uptake, but cadmium ions inhibited it competitively. The results are consistent with a carrier-mediated process, possibly involving a protein receptor in the membrane which is specific for Zn and elements close to it in the periodic table. Lactoferrin stimulated 65Zn uptake by approximately 20% when pre-incubated with 65Zn at a concentration of 0.01 microgram/ml. It had no significant effect on 65Zn uptake at higher concentrations or when pre-incubated with brush-border-membrane vesicles. The second mechanism of 65Zn uptake was linear with respect to time and involved binding to the membrane only. It was inhibited by all divalent and trivalent metal ions tested and is probably a passive binding process. The results are discussed with respect to the use of brush-border-membrane vesicles in examining the role of nutrient interactions and their effect on the biological availability of nutrients.