β-Lactoglobulin Elevates Insulin and Glucagon Concentrations Compared with Whey Protein—A Randomized Double-Blinded Crossover Trial in Patients with Type Two Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Whey protein is an insulinotropic fraction of dairy that reduces postprandial glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We have recently shown that β-lactoglobulin (BLG), the largest protein fraction of whey, elevates insulin concentrations compared with iso-nitrogenous whey protein isolate (WPI) in healthy individuals. We therefore hypothesized that BLG pre-meals would lower glucose levels compared with WPI in patients with T2DM. We investigated 16 participants with T2DM using a randomized double-blinded cross-over design with two pre-meal interventions, (i) 25 g BLG and (ii) 25 g WPI prior to an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), followed by four days of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) at home. BLG increased concentrations of insulin with 10%, glucagon with 20%, and glucose with 10% compared with WPI after the OGTT (all p < 0.05). Both BLG and WPI reduced the interstitial fluid (ISF) glucose concentrations (using CGM) with 2 mM and lowered glycemic variability with 10–15%, compared with tap-water (p < 0.05), and WPI lowered the ISF glucose with 0.5 mM compared with BLG from 120 min and onwards (p < 0.05). In conclusion, BLG pre-meals resulted in higher insulin, glucagon, and glucose concentrations compared with WPI in participants with T2DM. Pre-meal servings of WPI remains the most potent protein in terms of lowering postprandial glucose excursions.

Preparation of β-lactoglobulin-derived tryptophan peptide and its effect on anxiety-like behaviors in Zebrafish

“…In addition, whey protein hydrolysate with a high ratio of Trp/5LNAAs reversed anxiety behavioral dysfunctions in mice (10). β-lactoglobulin is the most abundant protein in whey proteins (by-products of the dairy industry), which represents 55% of the total whey protein content (15). However, few studies examined the effect of Trp-enriched peptides prepared from β-lactoglobulin on diminishing anxietyrelated states.…”