Historic Firsts in Whey Protein, Glutathione, and the Immune System

SCIENCE IS A BIT LIKE SPORTS: THE CREDIT GOES TO THE ONES WHO WERE FIRST

(To view the publications, go to www.pubmed.com, search for "pubmed" and enter the PMID numbers given below.

1981/1988: Gustavo Bounous and colleagues were the first to discover the effect of a whey protein on the immune system.

J. Infect Dis. 1981 Sept;144:281. Pubmed PMID: 7024433
Influence of dietary lactalbumin hydrolysate on the immune system of mice and resistance to salmonellosis.
Bounous G, Stevenson MM, Kongshavn PA.

Clin Invest Med. 1988 Aug;11:271-8. Pubmed PMID: 3168349
The immunoenhancing property of dietary whey protein concentrate.
Bounous G, Kongshavn PA, Gold P.
“The plaque-forming cell response to sheep red blood cells was found to be enhanced in mice fed a formula diet containing 20g lactalbumin/100 g diet”. (The humoral immune response eliminates bacteria in the body).


1986: Wulf Dröge and colleagues were the first to discover the effect of glutathione on the immune system in a living organism.

Immunobiology. 1986 Aug;172:151-6. Pubmed PMID: 3490430
Glutathione augments the activation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes in vivo.
Dröge W, Pottmeyer-Gerber C, Schmidt H, Nick S.
“The activation of T lymphocytes in vivo was found to be augmented by glutathione”. (Cytotoxic T cells eliminate virus-infected cells in the body, and T cells help B cells to produce a humoral immune response).


1989: Wulf Dröge and colleagues were the first to discover that HIV-infected patients have abnormally low cysteine and glutathione levels.

Biol Chem Hoppe Seyler. 1989 Feb;370:101-8. Pubmed PMID: 2784973
Low concentrations of acid-soluble thiol (cysteine) in the blood plasma of HIV-1 infected patients.
Eck HP, Gmünder H, Hartmann M, Petzoldt D, Daniel V, Dröge W.
“Blood plasma from HIV-1-infected persons contains decreased cysteine concentrations. The intracellular glutathione concentration in peripheral blood-mononuclear cells (PBMC) and monocytes from HIV positive persons are also significantly decreased”.


1989: Gustavo Bounous and colleagues were the first to discover that glutathione plays a role in the effect of whey protein on the immune system.

Clin Invest Med. 1989 June;12:154-61. Pubmed PMID: 2743633
Immunoenhancing property of dietary whey protein in mice: role of glutathione.
Bounous G, Batist G, Gold P.
“Enhancement of host humoral immune response is associated with sustained production of splenic glutathione in whey protein fed mice”.


1998: Wulf Dröge and colleagues were the first to discover the age-related decrease in the plasma concentration of cysteine, the limiting precursor of glutathione.

Blood. 1998 July; 92:59-67. Pubmed PMID: 9639500
The Redox State as a Correlate of Senescence and Wasting and as a Target for Therapeutic Intervention
Hack V, Breitkreutz R, Kinscherf R, Rörer H, Bartsch P, Taut F, Benner A and Dröge W.
“Our study showed a decrease in the plasma thiol level indicative of an age-dependent shift to a more oxidized condition”.


2008: Gustavo Bounous & Wulf Dröge and colleagues were the first to show in a placebo controlled clinical trial the health benefits of an undenatured whey protein isolate in cancer patients.

Antiox. & Redox Signaling. 2008. Feb;10:395-402. PMID: 18158761
Cysteine-Rich Protein Reverses Weight Loss in Lung Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy or Radiotherapy
Tozer RG, Tai P, Falconer W, Ducruet T, Karabadjian A, Bounous G, Molson JH, Dröge W.
“The patients treated with the cysteine-rich protein had a mean increase of 2.5% body weight, whereas casein-treated patients lost 2.6%”.

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Crucial Role of Cellular Glutathione

Most physicians are familiar with GSH in regards to its role in hepatic function, as a detoxifying substrate for acetaminophen overdoses, and more recently its importance in the maintenance of T-cell competence in HIV. However the clinical application of GSH enhancement is just beginning to be elaborated and will have far-reaching effects.

Antioxidation: Glutathione is the major naturally-occurring antioxidant present in our cells. Other antioxidants introduced though our diet such as vitamins C and E depend on GSH for their function and recycling within the cell. The field of free-radical biology is burgeoning and the list of disease states linked to oxidative stress is growing rapidly.

Toxicology: Glutathione is a key substrate for hepatic phase II metabolic pathways, which are taxed daily not only by a variety of prescription and non-prescription drugs, but also by a host of environmental toxins including heavy metals and many byproducts of cigarette smoke and fuel exhaust.

Immune Modulation: Lymphocytes, in particular T-cell subsets have a high demand for adequate GSH for their function and replication. GSH depletion in face of an acute or chronic inflammatory process, aging or infection, will lead to a blunted immune response.

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