Safety and Efficacy of a Multivitamin, Multimineral, Bovine Colostrum-Containing Supplement: An Open-label Pilot Intervention Trial in Healthy Adult Women and Men

Objective center dot This study was undertaken to explore the effects of a bovine colostrum-containing multivitamin multimineral (MVM) supplement on healthy, adult women and men by determining blood chemistries and health parameters via serum and saliva sampling and measuring each subject's physical characteristics over a 12-week interval. Participants center dot Fifty participants were screened for the study, after which twenty participants were determined eligible to enter the study. Thirteen participants (6 women and 7 men, average age 30.9 years, average BMI 27.3 kg/m(2)) completed the whole study. Results center dot MVM did not significantly impact serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) levels. The MVM significantly improved serum folate levels (48.3% increase at Week 12: 23.56 +/- 5.75 ng/mL versus Week 0: 15.88 +/- 3.40 ng/mL, P =.0001). MVM improved serum levels of vitamin B12 (21.3% increase at Week 12: 789.38 +/- 313.23 pg/mL versus Week 0: 650.54 +/- 228.02 pg/mL, P =.0690) and 25-hydroxy-vitamin D levels (9.1% increase at Week 12: 32.22 +/- 5.81 ng/mL versus Week 0: 29.54 +/- 11.30 ng/mL, P =.3570). The salivary IgA levels showed a significant increase at Week 4 (249.85 +/- 95.63 ng/ml), Week 8 (271.65 +/- 133.52 ng/ml), and Week 12 (279.88 +/- 128.19 ng/ml) compared to Week 0 (177.57 +/- 74.81 ng/ml). Conclusions center dot This study shows that MVM has a good safety and tolerability profile and can be used as a daily nutritional supplement safely. MVM may improve serum levels of vitamin D, folate, vitamin B12, and, possibly, other blood markers. The study showed that MVM may improve secretory IgA levels, a major component of oral immunity. These findings suggest an overall improvement in several aspects of health and need to be confirmed in a larger, placebo-controlled study.

Automated summary

This study examines the effects of a bovine colostrum-containing multivitamin multimineral (MVM) supplement on the health of adult men and women. The results show that MVM has a good safety profile and may improve serum levels of vitamin D, folate, vitamin B12, and salivary IgA levels. These findings suggest an overall improvement in several aspects of health and further research is needed to confirm these results.