Method of producing nutritional products from human milk tissue and compositions thereof

Abstract

Methods of isolating, treating, storing and processing human milk, as well as nutritional formulations of human milk comprising protective human milk proteins.

Description

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 290,823, filed May 14, 2001.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to biopharmaceutical and nutritional products obtained from human milk and mammary gland secretions. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods of isolating, storing, transferring, processing, packaging and delivering pharmaceutical and nutritional formulations comprising cells and tissues of human milk, fractionated human milk components and specifically reunited components of human milk. One embodiment of the present invention relates to improving the nutrition of low birth weight infants. Another embodiment of the present invention relates to a novel type of immunoglobulin useful in treating disorders, such as, for example, cancer, immune disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, nutritional disorders and metabolic disorders. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] The lack of a standardized sou...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009] The sequential administration of many of the human milk constituents provides substantial value to the recipient because of metabolic and catabolic processes. It is at the core of the present invention to utilize such human milk constituents, in their processed form, in such a sequential fashion as to provoke the same type of chain reaction in the body. With this concept, the pairing of the processed milk tissue with the sequential and differentiated delivery methods, patients may enjoy a new type of preventative and therapeutic medicine. Because human milk immunoglobulins are specifically targeted to many diseases of the newborn, as well as the protective functions of the mucus membranes of the newborn's body, and contain higher levels of IgA, IgD, IgM and IgE, the term “panoglobulin” or “lactapanoglobulin” has been coined for this newly identified formulation. In addition to fighting immune disorders with a human-milk origin panaglobulin, patients preparing for surgery, chemotherapy, radiation or other “currently accepted, but destructive” therapies, may enjoy preliminary therapies that may mitigate the ill effects of their upcoming procedure. In the same fashion, the constantly changing nature of species-specific milk allows for the inclusion of the mammary gland as a laboratory of sorts, seeking not to simply initiate and artificially replicate structures like antibodies and proteins, but instead, to produce a bonafide human-produced fluid that can be isolated, processed and delivered for a highly targeted use against disease.

Problems solved by technology

The lack of a standardized source of human milk, available for research purposes, has seriously hampered scientific investigation of human milk as well as the majority of the nearly 4,000 unique, species-specific milks.

Although the presence of immunoglobulins in human milk has been acknowledged for a number of years, the specific role and function of each of the human milk immunoglobulins and their subclasses has been poorly understood.

For the patient of any age suffering from an immune disorder, the worldwide gamma globulin shortage is impacting care to such a degree that some patients are unable to obtain treatment.

Until recently, the reasons behind the superiority of species-specific milk were not well understood, nor were the various components and the roles they play in development and disease prevention.

Artificial baby milks, predominantly based on cow's milk, have been prepared and used to nourish an infant but there is increasing evidence that infants fed artificial baby milks suffer long-term ill consequences.

Although much effort has been made to improve synthetic infant milk formulas, attempting to make them more closely simulate mother's milk, the presence of living organisms and other “species-specific” cells that act in a way to trigger other disease preventing mechanisms in the infant, these efforts have proven futile.