Feeding Buttermilk-Derived Choline Forms During Gestation and Lactation Modulates Ex Vivo T-Cell Response in Rat Dams

Background: Buttermilk contains a mixture of choline forms; it is high in phosphatidylcholine (PC) and sphingomyelin (SM), which could have an impact on immune system development and function. Objectives: We aimed to determine the effect of feeding buttermilk-derived choline forms during pregnancy and lactation on maternal immune function. Methods: Sprague Dawley dams (n = 8 per diet) were randomly assigned midway through pregnancy (10 d of gestation) to 1 of 3 experimental diets, containing 1.7 g/kg choline: control [100% free choline (FC)]; buttermilk [37% PC, 34% SM, 17% glycerophosphocholine (GPC), 7% FC, 5% phosphocholine]; or placebo (50% PC, 25% FC, 25% GPC). Dams consumed the same diet until the end of the lactation period (21 d after parturition). Cell phenotypes and cytokine production by mitogen-stimulated splenocytes were measured and compared using 1-factor ANOVA test in order to asses the effect of diet on immune fuction of lactating dams (main outcome). Results: After ConA stimulation, splenocytes from dams in the buttermilk group produced more IL-2 (30%), TNF-alpha (30%), and IFN-gamma (42%) compared with both the placebo and control diets. Placebo-fed dams had a higher proportion of CD8(+) cells expressing CD152(+) (22%) in spleen, and splenocytes from dams that were fed the buttermilk and the placebo diets produced about 50% and 53% more IL-10 after LPS and OVA stimulation, respectively, compared with the control group. Conclusions: Feeding buttermilk-derived choline forms during pregnancy and lactation had a beneficial impact on the immune system of Sprague Dawley rat dams, especially on T-cell function.