Clinical Applications of Bioactive Milk Components: A Review

Milk contains essential nutrients and functional compounds, such as calcium, fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, carotenoids, bioactive peptides, and sphingolipids. The bioactive molecules from milk are not expensive and have an added advantage of being derived from food. Therefore, they are more stable and have a broader spectrum than that of other chemicals. Bioactive milk components are useful for treating non-digestive tract disorders, such as cancer, cognitive decline, and hypertension. However, the clinical application of certain breast milk ingredients is limited due to the lack of a large-scale production technology. Once the scaled-up production of lactoferrin became possible, clinical applications were devised and evaluated. Similarly, human alpha-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells (HAMLET) can be produced on a large scale as a recombinant protein in microorganisms or in transgenic cattle using suitable separation systems. HAMLET can be used to treat human skin papilloma and cancer. Studies on breast milk that explored the clinical applications of the bioactive components of breast milk have spurred the development of translational medicine and breast milk-derived therapeutics. Some breastmilk derived therapeutic agents are already available to clinicians. Many components of breast milk have shown efficacy in pre-clinical studies and have valid clinical evaluations.