Dietary milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) provides protection against gastrointestinal stress in mice treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS)

Abstract

Inflammation is known to decrease gut barrier integrity. MFGM is a protein‐lipid complex containing phospholipids and membrane glycoproteins that may increase gut barrier properties. We sought to determine if MFGM enhances gut barrier integrity and decreases inflammation in LPS challenged mice. Mice were randomly assigned to one of two diets differing only in fat source: control diet (AIN‐76A, corn‐oil fat source) and AIN‐76A diet (equal amount of MFGM and anhydrous milk fat as the fat source). Mice were fed diets for 5 weeks then injected with saline control or LPS (10 mg/kg BW) and gavaged with dextran‐fluorescein (D‐FITC) to assess gut barrier integrity. Serum samples were assayed for D‐FITC 24 h after gavage, and a panel of 16 cytokine concentrations was measured to determine inflammatory response. Gut permeability was 45% less in LPS challenged mice fed MFGM diet compared to mice fed control diets (P < 0.05). LPS injection did not increase gut permeability compared to saline injection in mice fed MFGM diets. Conversely, LPS injection of mice fed control diets significantly increased gut permeability compared to saline injected cohorts (P < 0.05). LPS injected mice fed MFGM diets had lower serum levels of IL‐6, IL‐10, IL‐17, MCP‐1, IFNγ, and TNFα; compared to LPS injected mice fed control diets (P < 0.05). Our results suggest that MFGM inhibits the inflammatory response and protects against LPS induced gut permeability.Grant Funding Source: Dairy Management Incorporated