Location: Diet, Genomics and Immunology Laboratory
Project Number: 8040-51530-057-023-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2018
End Date: Aug 29, 2023
Objective:
Obesity-related chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are serious health problems worldwide including the United States. Furthermore, 4 to 10% increase is expected annually in diabetes and CVD in the U.S. and worldwide. Modern sedentary life styles, lack of exercise, and/or unhealthy diets often with high calories have been mostly responsible for increasing obesity-induced diabetes and CVD. Although the cellular and molecular events related to obesity-induced diabetes and CVD are still being elucidated, subclinical inflammation has been considered a significant risk factor for the progression of diabetes and CVD. Interestingly, some food components have been believed to have positive effects on subclinical inflammation, diabetes, CVD and other diseases, but the mechanisms behind these foods and their components responsible for these actions remain to be elucidated. Therefore, in this proposal, as part of the ARS Dairy Grand Challenge, we plan to identify bioactive oligosaccharids in bovine milk and to examine the microbiota in milk obtained from cows fed a high fiber vs low fiber diet.
Approach:
To accomplish the two objectives proposed in this study, as part of the Grand Challenge project, cows were placed on a control diet and then a low or high fiber diet in a crossover design. Milk samples from the first milking on 2 consecutive days at the end of each dietary period will be collected, aliquoted and shipped to respective laboratories. The UC Davis team will examine bovine milk oligosaccharides and microbiota. Together with data from other laboratories as well as the dairy management procedures, the goal will be to better understand the impact of management, diet and breed on milk bioactives and nutrient content.
