Recent Interesting studies on Kefir

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Consumption of this so-called longevity food would seem to produce a

wide range of excellent health benefits.

Antitumor activity of milk kefir and soy milk kefir in tumor-bearing mice.

Liu JR, Wang SY, Lin YY, Lin CW.

Laboratory of Chemistry and Technology of Animal Science, Department

of Animal Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan,

Republic of China. jerryliu@...

The effects of oral administration of milk and soy milk kefirs on

tumor growth in tumor-bearing mice and the mucosal immunoglobulin A

response in mice were studied. Oral administration of milk and soy

milk kefirs to mice inoculated with sarcoma 180 tumor cells resulted

in 64.8% and 70.9% inhibition of tumor growth, respectively, compared

with controls. In addition, oral administration of the two kefir types

induced apoptotic tumor cell lysis. Total immunoglobulin A levels for

tissue extracts from the wall of the small intestine were also

significantly higher for mice fed a milk kefir or a soy milk kefir

regimen for 30 days. These results suggest that milk and soy milk

kefirs may be considered among the more promising food components in

terms of cancer prevention and enhancement of mucosal resistance to

gastrointestinal infection.

PMID: 12734066 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & list_uids=1\

2734066 & dopt=Abstract

Anti-inflammatory properties of kefir and its polysaccharide extract.

Rodrigues KL, Carvalho JC, Schneedorf JM.

Laboratorio de Fitofarmacos, Unifenas, CEP 37130-000 Alfenas,

Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Kefir is a fermented beverage originating form the Caucasian

regions composed of a number of bacteria and yeasts living together in

polysaccharide grains secreted by them. Kefir can be considered a

probiotic source as it presents anti-bacterial, anti-mycotic,

anti-neoplasic and immunomodulatory properties. Aiming to appraise a

possible anti-inflammatory effect of kefir we conducted cotton-induced

granuloma and paw oedema assays in rats, the latter using carrageenan,

dextran and histamine as stimuli. Kefir samples were thawed and

continuously cultured during 15 days both in a molasses solution (50

g/l) and in cow's milk. A polysaccharide extract isolated from the

grains (kefiran) was also tested in cotton-pellet experiments. The

results showed significant inhibition in the formation of granuloma

tissue for all the test groups, as compared to the blank group. Kefir

suspensions in molasses presented an inhibition of 41 +/- 3% for the

inflammatory process, fermented milk prepared from kefir showed 44 +/-

6% inhibition and kefiran extract 34 +/- 15%. Rat paw oedema also

showed significant decreases with the mediators. Dextran-induced

oedema was completely inhibited at 1 h after input, with a 76%

inhibition after 2 h. Carrageenan stimulus was inhibited 62% after the

3rd hour, and histamine by 52% after the 2nd hour. These results

points to the existence of anti-inflammatory prebiotic compounds

present in symbiotic cultures of kefir growing in both aqueous and

milky suspensions.

PMID: 16280101 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Effects of kefir fractions on innate immunity.

Vinderola G, Perdigon G, Duarte J, Thangavel D, Farnworth E, Matar C.

Departement de Chimie et Biochimie, Universite de Moncton, Moncton

(NB), Canada E1A 3E9; Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos

(CERELA-CONICET), Tucuman, Argentina.

Innate immunity that protects against pathogens in the tissues and

circulation is the first line of defense in the immune reaction, where

macrophages have a critical role in directing the fate of the

infection. We recently demonstrated that kefir modulates the immune

response in mice, increasing the number of IgA+ cells in the

intestinal and bronchial mucosa and the phagocytic activity of

peritoneal and pulmonary macrophages. The aim of this study was to

further characterize the immunomodulating capacity of the two

fractions of kefir (F1: solids including bacteria and F2: liquid

supernatant), by studying the cytokines produced by cells from the

innate immune system: peritoneal macrophages and the adherent cells

from Peyer's patches. BALB/c mice were fed either kefir solid fraction

(F1) or kefir supernatant (F2) for 2, 5 or 7 consecutive days. The

number of cytokine (IL-1alpha, IFNgamma, TNFalpha, IL-6 and IL-10)

producing cells was determined on peritoneal macrophages and adherent

cells from Peyer's patches. Both kefir fractions (F1 and F2) induced

similar cytokine profiles on peritoneal macrophages (only TNFalpha and

IL-6 were up-regulated). All cytokines studied on adherent cells from

Peyer's patches were enhanced after F1 and F2 feeding, except for

IFNgamma after F2 administration. Moreover, the percentage of

IL-10+cells induced by fraction F2 on adherent cells from Peyer's

patches was significantly higher than the one induced by fraction F1.

Different components of kefir have an in vivo role as oral

biotherapeutic substances capable of stimulating immune cells of the

innate immune system, to down-regulate the Th2 immune phenotype or to

promote cell-mediated immune responses against tumours and also

against intracellular pathogenic infections.

PMID: 16530082 [PubMed - in process]