New Functional Fermented Mare’s Milk Product: Biological Assessment in vivo

The growing consumer interest in healthy foods increases the demand for new functional products. Mare’s milk and its products possess some unique nutritional properties. This article introduces a new fermented functional food that combines mare’s milk, cow’s milk, lactic acid, and probiotic microorganisms. The research featured fermented milk products based on mare’s milk, cow’s milk, and their mixes. The preclinical studies involved clinically healthy female mice (C57BL/6J). The biochemical analysis of blood plasma was performed on a BioChem FC-360 automatic analyzer while the histological preparations relied on an AxioImaiger A1 light microscope. The quantitative assessment employed the ImageJ software (USA). The mice obtained the so-called Western diet and the experimental product. Their low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) decreased by 254-30.0% while the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) went up. The mice that were given the experimental product demonstrated lower creatinine, urea, and alanine aminotransferase activity in the blood plasma, which indicated a certain hepatoprotective effect. The experimental product caused a statistically significant decrease in granulocytes, i.e., the microbiome had an anti-inflammatory effect on the gut microbiota, which, in its turn, affected the cytokine expression. The new product demonstrated strong biological activity, which rendered it functional properties. Further research will determine the effect of fermented milk products as part of a comprehensive diet on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.