Casomorphins
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Introduction
In 1979, Brantl et al first reported that guinea pigs had an opioid-active substance in the ileal longitudinal muscle capillaries when fed a caseinolytic preparation. This substance is casomorphin. Casomorphin is an oligopeptide (Tyr-Pro-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro-Ile) containing 7 amino acid residues, which is a 60-66 amino acid residue fragment of β-casein, also named β-Cytomorphin- 7 (β-Caso mo rphin-7 , β-CM-7). Casomorphin is one of the most important milk-derived bioactive peptides. The milk-derived bioactive peptide is released by the digestive enzyme of casein, which can be directly absorbed by the body and has various biological functions. Casein is an important source of milk-derived active peptides.
Mechanism of action
Casomorphins have the ability to pass through a single layer of epithelial cells. There are two ways to absorb casomorphins. First, casomorphins absorb from the top of the cell to the bottom of the cell. Second, casomorphins absorb from the bottom of the cell to the tip of the cell. Casomorphins have the ability to reach target cells or target organs and can activate or attenuate opioid receptor-mediated physiological responses.
Application of Casomorphin
Casomorphin is not absorbed by the gastric mucosa of adult rats and can exist in intact peptide structure. Casomorphin may promote gastrin expression in gastric mucosa by inhibiting the expression of somatostatin mRNA. It was also found that casomorphin may promote the expression of cholecystokinin in the intestinal mucosa by inhibiting the expression of somatostatin gene, thereby affecting intestinal motor function. Therefore, Casomorphin has an effect on endocrine. On the other hands, casomorphin can promote the growth of rats in growth phase, increase feed intake, affect the secretion of growth-related hormones and growth factors, and up-regulate the expression level of liver mRNA, thereby increasing the sensitivity of growth hormone. Thus, Casomorphin also has an effect on growth and digestive tract development. Casomorphin will be a clinical drug or adjuvant therapy.
Reference
- Malgorzata, I., Beata, J., Krzysztof, B., et al. (2008) Transport of μ –opioid recep tor agonists and antagonist peptides acros s Caco-2 m onolayer. Peptides, 29(6): 1042-1047.
