Epidermal growth factor-like activity in mares’ milk.

This research studied the presence of epidermal growth factor-like activity in mare’s milk and colostrum, finding that this activity is highest in pre-suckle colostrum during early lactation and then stabilizes at a lower level.

Research Overview

• This study aimed to investigate the presence and quantify the levels of Epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like activity in mare’s milk and colostrum during the early stages of lactation. The researchers used a technique known as radioreceptor assay to measure EGF activity.

Sample Collection

• 22 mares participated in the study and milk samples were collected from them one or more times during early lactation. In addition, colostrum samples were collected after the mares gave birth and before the foal had its first feed (referred to as ‘pre-suckle’), within six hours after the foal’s first feed (‘post-suckle’), and also on days 1, 2, 4 and 8 of lactation.
• From these 22 mares, five were selected to provide milk samples at all the above-mentioned sampling times for detailed analysis.

Findings

• The research results indicated that the highest EGF-like activity, with a mean level of 17.8 ng/ml, was found in the Pre-suckle colostrum (taken immediately after birth, prior to the foal’s first feed). This was statistically significant (P less than 0.05), implying that the difference was not due to random chance.
• The EGF-like activity then appears to stabilize at lower levels in the subsequent samples. The mean values for EGF-like activity at all other collection times were not significantly different from each other (post-suckle colostrum, 9.7 ng/ml; day 1, 9.6 ng/ml; day 2, 8.5 ng/ml; day 4, 8.0 ng/ml; day 8, 7.8 ng/ml). This suggests that following early lactation, the EGF-like activity in mare’s milk and colostrum remains fairly constant.

Significance

• The findings of this research highlight the potential importance of early lactation colostrum in providing high levels of EGF-like activity, which might influence the health and development of the newborn foal. However, further research is needed to understand the functional impacts of these EGF levels.