The effects of denatured major bovine whey proteins on the digestive tract, assessed by Caco-2 cell differentiation and on viability of suckling mice.

Alpha-lactalbumin (α-LA) and β-lactoglobulin (β-LG) are contained in bovine milk whey. Chemical and physical treatments are known to alter the conformation of these proteins and we have previously reported that α-LA denatured with trifluoroethanol (TFE) and isolated from sterilized market milk inhibited the growth of rat crypt IEC-6 cells. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of TFE-treated α-LA and β-LG on cell growth using cultured intestinal cells and on their safety using a suckling mouse model.