Study of the in vitro properties of oligopeptides from whey protein isolate with high Fisher's ratio and their ability to prevent allergic response to -lactoglobulin in vivo

High Fisher ratio oligopeptides (HFOPs) with molecular weight range from 100 to 800 Da derived from whey protein isolate (WPI) were used to prevent the allergic response induced by beta-lactoglobulin (beta Lg) in vivo due to their anti-inflammatory activities to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treated RAW 264.7 cells and anti-allergic pro-perties to anti-DNP mouse IgE sensitized RBL-2H3 cells in vitro. The results showed the overexpressed immu-noglobulin E (IgE), unbalanced Th1-/Th2-type immune cytokines and inflammatory factors in beta Lg-allergic mice were significantly attenuated by oral administration of HFOPs, resulting in the prevention of inflammatory le-sions in spleen and colonic histopathology. Moreover, HFOPs increased ratio of Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes at phylum level in sensitive mice, and improved the abundance of Lactobacillaceae at family level to maintain oral tolerance against beta Lg and prevented allergic response. The use of HFOPs may provide a potential alternative for preventing the milk allergy induced by WPI.