Colostrum from different mammalian species—A rich source of colostrinin

Abstract

Colostrinin™ (CLN), a proline-rich polypeptide complex, originally isolated from ovine colostrum, has been proven to be a promising and non-toxic natural preparation capable of preventing the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Utilizing a new purification protocol, colostrum from cows, goats or humans can also be used as alternative sources of this complex. Comparison of properties of preparation derived from these three species revealed no significant differences from that obtained from sheep. In amino-acid composition, as in ovine CLN, a high level of proline residues (over 20%) and acidic amino acids (approximately 18%) was found in CLN from cows, goats and humans. The comparison of the electrophoretic patterns and reversed-phase-high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) elution profiles showed the presence of additional proteins in the CLN preparations of different origin, consisting mainly of β-lactoglobulin and α-lactalbumin. These proteins could be removed by an ultrafiltration process. Colostrum, regardless of origin (ovine, bovine, caprine or human), appeared to be a rich source of CLN fractions that could be separated in gram quantities. Storage of colostrum in frozen or lyophilized form affected neither the quantity nor quality of the purified peptides compared with its preparation from fresh material.