Effect of the intracellular content from Lactobacillus casei CRL-431 on the antioxidant properties of breast milk: Randomized double-blind controlled trial

Abstract

Breast milk (BM) provides antioxidant components that play a key role in protecting the neonate against oxidative stress. Therefore, different strategies have been pursued to preserve or increase its antioxidant levels. In this sense, studies have reported that probiotics may improve the antioxidant capacity of BM; however, the intracellular content of probiotics have not yet been assessed. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate in a randomized double-blind controlled clinical study the effect of the intracellular content of Lactobacillus casei CRL-431 (IC-431) on the antioxidant capacity and some enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, as well as on indicators of the degree of the oxidation on BM. For this purpose, nursing mothers from the first to the twelfth month of lactation, were randomized into two groups (n = 8); to either receive an edible gel with IC-431 or without IC-431 (placebo). Despite that no significant differences (p > 0.05) were found between groups on the total antioxidant capacity, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, and biomarkers of oxidative stress in BM, the supplementation of IC-431 showed a positive trend on increasing total antioxidant parameters and a slight decrease in oxidative stress markers. Thus, IC-431 may be used as a potential supplement for nursing mothers.