Journal Articles

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    The effect of microwave-assisted heating on bioactive and immunological compounds in donor human milk
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2022-05-01) Leite JAS; Robinson RC; Salcedo J; Ract JNR; Quintal VS; Tadini CC; Barile D
    Low-Temperature Long-Time pasteurization (LTLT) is normally applied in donor human milk from Human Milk Banks (HMBs) to guarantee microbiological safety; however, this treatment can modify the protein structures, decreasing their beneficial effects. Thus, this study aimed to determine the impact of microwave-assisted heating on the concentration of key biological compounds in donor human milk to verify whether a microwave heating technique can be used as an alternative to LTLT pasteurization in Human Milk Banks. The concentrations of oligosaccharides, immunoglobulins, lactoferrin and fatty acids were monitored in raw donor milk and after processing to assess the impact of the microwave and LTLT treatments. The concentration of oligosaccharides was determined by HPAEC-PAD, immunoglobulins and lactoferrin were quantified using ELISA kits and fatty acids were quantified by gas chromatography. Oligosaccharides and fatty acids were not significantly affected (p > 0.05) by LTLT and microwave processes; however, immunoglobulins and lactoferrin concentrations were better preserved when microwave-assisted heating was applied. For this reason, microwave-assisted heating can be considered a promising alternative to LTLT pasteurization of donor human milk in Human Milk Banks.
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    A common regulatory haplotype doubles lactoferrin concentration in milk.
    (BioMed Central Ltd, 2024-03-28) Lopdell TJ; Trevarton AJ; Moody J; Prowse-Wilkins C; Knowles S; Tiplady K; Chamberlain AJ; Goddard ME; Spelman RJ; Lehnert K; Snell RG; Davis SR; Littlejohn MD
    BACKGROUND: Bovine lactoferrin (Lf) is an iron absorbing whey protein with antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal activity. Lactoferrin is economically valuable and has an extremely variable concentration in milk, partly driven by environmental influences such as milking frequency, involution, or mastitis. A significant genetic influence has also been previously observed to regulate lactoferrin content in milk. Here, we conducted genetic mapping of lactoferrin protein concentration in conjunction with RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, and ATAC-seq data to pinpoint candidate causative variants that regulate lactoferrin concentrations in milk. RESULTS: We identified a highly-significant lactoferrin protein quantitative trait locus (pQTL), as well as a cis lactotransferrin (LTF) expression QTL (cis-eQTL) mapping to the LTF locus. Using ChIP-seq and ATAC-seq datasets representing lactating mammary tissue samples, we also report a number of regions where the openness of chromatin is under genetic influence. Several of these also show highly significant QTL with genetic signatures similar to those highlighted through pQTL and eQTL analysis. By performing correlation analysis between these QTL, we revealed an ATAC-seq peak in the putative promotor region of LTF, that highlights a set of 115 high-frequency variants that are potentially responsible for these effects. One of the 115 variants (rs110000337), which maps within the ATAC-seq peak, was predicted to alter binding sites of transcription factors known to be involved in lactation-related pathways. CONCLUSIONS: Here, we report a regulatory haplotype of 115 variants with conspicuously large impacts on milk lactoferrin concentration. These findings could enable the selection of animals for high-producing specialist herds.