Bovine colostrum: benefits for the human respiratory system and potential contributions for clinical management of COVID-19

Figures & data

Figure 1. Bovine Colostrum (BC) composition includes bioactive molecules such as lactoferrin, immunoglobulins and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), which have been related to protective effects against respiratory diseases. Those health benefits might be extended over SARS-CoV-2 infection and Covid-19 clinical presentation. Created with Biorender.com.

Table 1. Comparison of immunoglobulins’ levels in human and bovine colostrum and milk.

Species	Ig	Concentration (g/L)
		Colostrum	Milk
Human	IgG	0.43	0.04
	IgA	17.35	1.00
	IgM	1.59	0.10
Bovine	IgG1	46.40	0.58
	IgG2	2.87	0.06
	IgA	5.86	0.08
	IgM	6.77	0.09

Adapted from Wheeler et al., (2007). Ig: Immunoglobulin.

Table 2. Effects of bovine colostrum oral supplementation on upper respiratory tract infections in humans.

Sample	Age (years)	Health condition	Intervention	Main Results	Reference
605 children	1–8	History of recurrent URTI and diarrhea episodes before the study	3.0 g of Pedimune® daily for 12 weeks	Reduction of URTI and diarrhea episodes in 91.19% and 86.60% of patients, respectively	Patel and Rana (2006)
160 children	1–6	History of recurrent URTI and diarrhea episodes before the study	3.0–6.0 g BC for 4 weeks	Significant reduction in URTI and diarrhea episodes and hospitalizations for these causes	Saad et al. (2016)
167 children	3–7	History of recurring URTI episodes	Sinerga^TM (n = 67) for 4 months. Bacterial extracts (n = 100) for 3 months. The dosage followed the manufacturers’ protocol for both	Lower URTI incidence and need for antibiotics in the Sinerga^TM group	Nigro et al. (2014)
31 children	5–16	Having URTI and deficient serum IgA symptoms	BC Group (n = 16), 14 mg BC + 2.2 mg Lysozyme, Placebo group (n = 15), 3 times a day for 1 week	Lower infection severity score in the active group. No differences in salivary IgA levels	Patiroǧlu and Kondolot (2013)
174 men	18–35	Healthy men	BC group (n = 93), 60 g BC protein Control group (n = 81), 60 g of whey protein Daily for 8 weeks	Lower URTI incidence in the active group. No differences in symptom duration between groups	Brinkworth and Buckley (2003)
57 men	18–62	Healthy active men	BC Group n = 28: 20 g BC Placebo group n = 29: 20 g of an isoenergetic/isomacronutrient. Daily for 12 weeks	Lower incidence of URTI, days with symptoms and less bacterial load on saliva in the active group. No differences in the leukocyte, neutrophil or salivary IgA counts	Jones et al. (2013)

BC: Bovine colostrum; URTI: Upper respiratory tract infection; IgA: Immunoglobulin A.

Table 3. Effects of bovine colostrum oral supplementation on athletic performance and immune system.

Sport	Sample	Intervention	Supplementation	Main Results	References
Cycling	29 men	Active group (n = 14), 10 g BCP Placebo group (n = 15), 10 g of WP	Daily for 5 weeks	Improved performance and maintenance of respiratory threshold during exercise	Shing et al. (2006)
	29 men	Active group (n = 14), 10 g BCP Placebo group (n = 15), 10 g WP	Daily for 5 weeks	Increased TNFR1, suppression of decrease in cytotoxic T cells and IgG2. A lower incidence of respiratory diseases was also found	Shing et al. (2007)
	20 men	Active group (n = 10): 20 g of BC Placebo group (n = 10): 10 g isoenergetic	Daily for 4 weeks	Positive effects on oxidative explosion dependent on receptors (stimulated by fMLP). There were no effects on other mucosal immunity parameters	Jones et al. (2015)
Running	30 men	Active group (n = 17): 60 g of BC Placebo group (n = 13): 10 g of WP	Daily for 8 weeks	Promoted improvement in performance by better recovery after 8 weeks of supplementation. Serum IGF-1 was not changed	Buckley et al. (2002)
	15 women 20 men	Active group (M = 12; W = 6), 26 g BC Placebo Group (M = 8; W= 9): 26 g skimmed milk	Daily for 12 weeks	Increased salivary IgA in the active (BC) group	Crooks et al. (2006)
Endurance exercise	20 men	Active group (n = 10), 20 g BC Placebo group (n = 10), 20 g isoenergetic, milk protein and skim milk	Daily for 4 weeks	BC accelerated the recovery of neutrophilic function and prevented the decrease in salivary lysozyme	Davison and Diment (2010)
	31 men	Active group (n = 15), 20 g BC Placebo group (n = 16), 20 g milk protein and skimmed milk	Daily for 58 days	The sensitivity of the immune response to a new antigen was greater in the group that received BC	Jones et al. (2019)
Swimming	21 men 32 women	Active group (M = 12; W = 13), 25 g BC Placebo Group (M = 9; W = 19), 25 g isocaloric	Daily for 10 weeks	Lower incidence of URTI in the BC group. There were no effects on plasma or salivary immunoglobulins	Crooks et al. (2010)

BCP: Bovine colostrum protein; WP: Whey protein; BC: Bovine colostrum; M: Men; W: Women; TNFR1: Tumour necrosis factor receptor 1; fMLP: N-Formyl-L-methionyl-L-leucyl-L-phenylalanine; IGF-1: Insulin-like growth factor-1; IgA: Immunoglobulin A; URTI: Upper respiratory tract infections.

Table 4. Hyperimmune bovine colostrum in the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases.

Infectious agent	Administration form	Experimental model	Results	Reference
Influenza A	Purified HBC IgG	Mice	Treated and prevented infection	Ng et al. (2010)
Escherichia coli	Dairy formula + HBC Igs or Dairy formula (control)	Babies aged 3–6 months fed milk formula	Lower incidence and duration of diarrhea and greater weight gain in the supplemented group.	Tawfeek et al. (2003)
	Purified HBG IgG	Infected adults	Prevented diarrhea	Savarino et al. (2019)
	Purified HBC IgG	Mice	Treated the infection	Larcombe et al. (2019)
	HBC	Infected adults	Prevented diarrhea	Otto et al. (2011)
Clostridium difficile	Purified HBC IgG	Mice	Treated and prevented infection	Hutton et al. (2017)
	HBC	Pigs	Treated the infection	Sponseller et al. (2015)
Helicobacter pylori	HBC Igs	In vitro human gastric mucosa and mice	Inhibited binding in vitro and eradicated or reduced bacterial load	Casswall et al. (2002)
	HBC + N-acetylcysteine + Zn	Mice	Reduced bacterial load	Tran et al. (2010)

HBC: Hyperimmune bovine colostrum; Igs: Immunoglobulins; IgG: Immunoglobulin G.

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