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ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #75790
Title: COLOSTRUM ENHANCES THE NUTRITIONAL STIMULATION OF VITAL ORGAN PROTEIN SYNTHESIS IN NEONATAL PIGS.

Author
item Burrin, Douglas - Doug
item Davis, Teresa
item EBNER, SYLVIE - INRA RECHERCHES,FRANCE
item SCHOKNECHT, PATRICIA - RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
item Fiorotto, Marta
item Reeds, Peter - Peter

Submitted to: Journal of Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/4/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The point of our study was to find out the importance of the nutrient and nonnutritive components of colostrum in stimulating protein synthesis in vital organs of newborn pigs. Piglets are an ideal model for the human infant. We wanted to look at colostrum in particular because many studies have shown the nutritional importance of this fluid, which is the first part of the mother's milk after giving birth. We wanted to understand colostrum better in terms of improving human beings' nutrition after birth. We studied newborn pigs that were not allowed to have colostrum, and piglets fed mature milk, colostrum, or a formula that contained nutrients like those in colostrum but lacking growth factors. We measured protein synthesis in the pigs because this is a critical process in organ growth. Colostrum feeding stimulated brain, heart and lung protein synthesis more than milk- or formula-fed pigs, and it seemed to cause maximal stimulation of vital organs due to a factor, not directly associated with nutrient intake, that is not present in formula. The results suggest that the main stimulus for vital organ protein synthesis in colostrum-fed piglets is ingestion of nutrients, but there was a specific stimulation of heart and brain protein synthesis that could be attributed to non-nutritive components.

Technical Abstract: Our objective was to determine the relative significance of the nutrients and nonnutritive components of colostrum in the stimulation of vital organ protein synthesis in neonatal pigs. We studied colostrum-deprived newborn pigs within 4-6 h after birth (unfed) and three groups fed mature milk, colostrum, or a formula containing a macronutrient composition comparable to that of colostrum for 24 h. We measured protein synthesis in vivo usin a flooding dose of 3**H-phenylalanine. The fractional rates of protein synthesis (Ks) in the brain, heart, lung, kidney and spleen were significantly higher in all feeding groups than in the unfed newborns. Among the three fed groups, brain and heart protein synthesis rates were greater in colostrum-fed than in either milk- or formula-fed pigs. Kidney and spleen protein synthesis rates in colostrum- and formula-fed pigs were similar, but both were higher than in milk-fed pigs. The stimulation of kidney protein synthesis in response to feeding was primarily a consequenc of increased protein synthetic efficiency; however, protein synthetic capacity in the heart and lung was particularly increased in colostrum-fed pigs. Our results suggest that the predominate stimulus for vital organ protein synthesis in colostrum-fed neonatal pigs is nutrient intake. However, there was a specific stimulation of both brain and heart protein synthesis in colostrum-fed pigs that can not be attributed to macronutrients.