This study aimed to investigate the effects of whey protein hydrolysate (WPH) on the growth and immunity of mouse pups in artificial rearing (AR) system. Mouse pups were reared in the AR system with artificial milk including 5% WPH (AR with WPH) or not (AR without WPH), and the remaining pups were reared by their mother (dam) for 14 days after birth. The body weight change and body weight gain rates in the AR with WPH group were significantly higher than those observed in the AR without WPH group and similar to those in the dam group. Moreover the feed and protein efficiencies in the AR with WPH group were significantly higher than those of the AR without WPH group. In addition, the supplement of WPH in the AR system was shown to significantly elevate the number of CD3⁺CD8⁺, B220⁺CD19⁺, IA/IE⁺CD11c⁺, and CD11b⁺ in the thymocyte and/or splenocyte, and the thymus weight. Furthermore, MALDI‐TOF/MS analysis identified the amino acid sequences corresponding to some peptides, and indicated that VRTPEVDDE had the highest relative intensity among the peptides from tested WPH. Therefore, WPH would be required to not only promote growth, but also exert immunomodulatory activities in mouse pups in AR system.

中文翻译：

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乳清蛋白水解物对人工饲养幼鼠生长促进和免疫调节的影响。

本研究旨在探讨乳清蛋白水解物（WPH）对人工饲养（AR）系统小鼠幼仔生长及免疫力的影响。小鼠幼崽在含有5% WPH（AR with WPH）或不含（AR with WPH）人工奶的AR系统中饲养，其余幼崽在出生后由其母（dam）饲养14天。AR 伴 WPH 组的体重变化和体重增加率显着高于 AR 无 WPH 组，与母体组相似。此外，有 WPH 的 AR 组的饲料和蛋白质效率显着高于没有 WPH 的 AR 组。此外，在 AR 系统中补充 WPH 可显着提高 CD3 ⁺ CD8 ⁺、B220的数量⁺胸腺细胞和/或脾细胞中的CD19 ⁺、IA/IE ⁺ CD11c ⁺和 CD11b ^{+以及胸腺重量。}此外，MALDI-TOF/MS 分析确定了与某些肽对应的氨基酸序列，并表明 VRTPEVDDE 在测试的 WPH 肽中具有最高的相对强度。因此，WPH 不仅需要促进生长，还需要在 AR 系统的小鼠幼崽中发挥免疫调节活性。