Bovine Colostrum as a Modulatorof Immune System in Allergic Children

Souhrn

Introduction:
Colostrum is the mammary secretion a mammal provides for its newborn within the first 24 to48 hours. It contains numerous immune system and growth factors as well as essential nutrients. Bovinecolostrum is biologically acceptable for all mammals, including man. It is much higher in immune factors thanhuman colostrum. In addition, bovine colostrum contains a blocking hormone to prevent the calf from becomingsensitized to its own mother´s immune factors. Studies indicate that all species, including man, benefit from theimmune-boosting properties of bovine colostrum, with no reports of allergic or anaphylactic reactions so far.The aim of the present paper is to show which changes can be expected in children treated and continuouslyobserved for various types of allergy after two months of daily administration of two capsules of ProenziKolos-trum (the natural medicine form: 100 per cent bovine colostrum containing a minimum of 30 per cent ofimmunoglobulins in 500 mg). Material and method: In a prospective randomized study, we evaluated, for a period of two months a total of24 children, (9M/15F) aged 4 - 15 years. All probands were treated and observed for various types of allergy; thechildren as well as their parents were informed about the aim of this study and both probands and parents agreedwith their participation in the study. All parents were asked to complete a questionnaire, concerning the child´scharacterization and to express their subjective evaluation of the degree of benefit observed during thecolostrum intake. Before and after two months of the study period the blood samples of all probands wereanalyzed by common haematological methods. For evaluation of free radicals the original method based on thechlorophylline reaction was used. The values of immunoglobulins were estimated by kits (Sevapharma, a.c.,Q-antisera, Czech Republic). Results: The analysis of blood samples revealed a statistically important decrease of leukocytes p < 0.01 andnon-significant decrease of monocytes. In serum samples significant changes were observed in IgE values (from426.2 ± 21.09 to 314.0 ± 18.13 U/ml) p < 0.001, and in free radicals (from 2.69 ± 0.26 to 2.07 ± 0.19 mg Fe2+), p < 0.01(Sigma Stat, Windows, v. 1.0 Jandel C.). Conclusion: From our findings it is evident that also relatively short administration of colostrum has a visiblebeneficial effect on allergic children. The subjective evaluation by the parents resulted in 88% answers: "verygood or excellent effect" and 12% were described as "without visible effect".

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