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The distribution of essential, trace, and nonessential minerals in weanling male rats fed sheep or cow milk

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-03, 17:34 authored by Keegan Burrow, Wayne Young, Michelle McConnell, Alan Carne, David Barr, Malcolm Reid, Alaa El-Din Bekhit
Scope: The aim of the study is to determine the effects of sheep milk consumption in comparison to cow milk on the mineral distribution in the soft organs and serum in a growing animal model system. As the mineral composition of cow and sheep milk differs, different effects on the bio-accumulations in the body may be observed. Differences in the mineral composition of cow and sheep milk may lead to different bioavailability or accumulation of minerals in the body. Newly weaned rats were fed either cow milk, sheep milk, or sheep milk diluted so that it had the same solid content as cow milk. At the end of the feeding trial, the concentration of minerals in the organs and plasma of the rats was assessed. The results indicate that the consumption of the high level of minerals in sheep milk does not have any negative effects in the rat model. Methods and results: Newly weaned male rats were fed ad libitum for 28 days on either cow milk, sheep milk, or sheep milk diluted to have the same concentration of milk solids as cow milk. Animals were euthanized and the soft organs and serum were harvested and then analyzed for mineral composition by inductively coupled plasma MS. Rats fed sheep milk had lower iron concentrations in the liver and higher concentrations of rubidium and cesium in all of the soft organs. The growth rate of the rats was not affected by the type of milk consumed. Conclusion: The concentration of essential and trace minerals in the liver is found to be significantly different between rats fed sheep milk compared to those fed cow milk (p < 0.05). The consumption of sheep milk does not affect the growth of animals.

History

Rights statement

© 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Language

  • English

Does this contain Māori information or data?

  • No

Publisher

Wiley

Journal title

Molecular Nutrition & Food Research

ISSN

1613-4125

Citation

Burrow, K., Young, W., McConnell, M., Carne, A., Barr, D., Reid, M., & Bekhit, A. (2018). The distribution of essential, trace, and nonessential minerals in weanling male rats fed sheep or cow milk. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, 62(21), 1800482. doi:10.1002/mnfr.201800482

Funder

Blue River Dairy||Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment||Waituhi Kuratau Trust

Contract number

A20185

Job code

11565X03

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