Caries protective agents in human milk and bovine milk: an in vitro study

To estimate Calcium and Phosphorus withdrawal from hydroxyapatite in the presence of bovine milk and human milk from which the following protective fractions namely Casein, Whey protein, Lactose and Milk fat have been individually removed and to compare the above protective fractions in human and bovine milk.

Human milk obtained from lactating mothers in the labor ward of Kshema hospital was subjected to immediate analysis. Bovine milk was obtained from a local dairy. Equal quantities of human milk and bovine milk (1 ml) were separately subjected to the systematic removal of the four milk fractions. As each fraction was removed, the remaining milk samples were subjected to testing. Powdered hydroxyapatite from human dental enamel was subjected to demineralization with the addition of the milk sample under test for 20 minutes. This mixture was then centrifuged. Aliquots of the supernatant were taken for calcium and Phosphorus analysis using photospectrometry. Ten demineralization tests were similarly carried out for every milk fraction for both human and bovine milk separately. Equal samples of whole bovine milk and whole human milk were also subjected to similar testing.

The calcium and phosphorus dissolution values were higher when the individual fractions were eliminated from both human milk/enamel samples and bovine milk/enamel samples as compared to the values obtained from whole human milk/whole bovine milk/enamel samples. Further higher calcium and phosphorus dissolution values were observed when the fractions were individually and separately removed from the whole human milk/enamel samples as compared to the corresponding values obtained when these fractions were removed from bovine milk/enamel samples.

The evaluated milk fraction in bovine milk namely casein, whey protein, lactose and milk fat were individually more caries protective when compared to the corresponding fractions in human milk.