We investigated the effects of milk protein concentrate (MPC) and milk protein concentrate hydrolysate (MPCH) as antioxidant agents in rats. Six groups of healthy (non-diabetic) and type-II diabetic rats were used: (1) healthy rats (control), (2) alloxan-induced rats (diabetic control group), (3) healthy rats treated orally with MPC, (4) diabetic rats treated orally with MPC, (5) healthy rats treated orally with MPCH, and (6) diabetic rats treated orally with MPCH. We concluded that treatment with MPC or MPCH reduced the level of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances in healthy and diabetic rats. Treatment with MPC or MPCH improved activities of antioxidant enzymes (catalase, superoxide dismutase, reduced glutathione, glutathione-S-transferase, and glutathione peroxidase) in healthy and diabetic rats. From the present data, we concluded that both MPC and MPCH contain potent antioxidants and could improve the health of rats or other animals with diabetes mellitus.
Keywords: antioxidant enzyme; bioactive peptide; free radical; type-2 diabetes.
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