本研究主要探讨基于乳清肽的肠内营养（MEIN®）对小鼠的抗肿瘤效果，其主要成分为乳清肽和经Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus 2038和Streptococcus thermophilus 1131发酵的酸奶。我们的研究结果表明，在移植C26癌细胞的小鼠中，基于乳清肽的肠内营养组（1.36 ± 0.54 g）和对照组（1.83 ± 0.89 g）相比，移植后第16天肿瘤重量显著减小（p < 0.05）。基于乳清肽的肠内营养组显示具有更高的肿瘤细胞凋亡、更低的细胞增殖率和不活跃的血管生成，其TUNEL、Ki-67、VEGF和CD34的阳性率较对照组较低。此外，该组也减轻了脾脏和肝脏的炎症细胞浸润，表现为脾指数减少（10.89 ± 2.06 vs. 12.85 ± 2.92，p < 0.05）和肝指数增加（58.09 ± 11.37 vs. 53.19 ± 6.67，p < 0.05）。这些结果证明了基于乳清肽的肠内营养对肿瘤生长的抑制作用，可能归因于其乳清肽成分。实际应用方面，通过动物实验选择了一种包含乳清和多种营养物质的基于乳清肽的肠内营养（MEIN®），以验证其抗肿瘤效果。研究发现，基于乳清肽的肠内营养显著减轻了肿瘤模型小鼠的肿瘤重量增长、肿瘤细胞增殖以及脾脏和肝脏的炎症细胞浸润，这可能归因于其乳清肽成分。这些结果为癌症治疗提供了一种补充方向，并需要进一步的临床试验研究。 © 2023 Institute of Food Technologists.

The antitumor effects of a whey peptide-based enteral diet, whose main components are whey peptides and yogurt fermented by Lactobacillus delbureckii subsp. bulgaricus 2038 and Streptococcus thermophilus 1131, were investigated in mice. Our results indicated that the tumor weight in C26 carcinoma-transplanted mice was significantly smaller at day 16 post-implantation in the whey peptide-based enteral diet group (1.36 ± 0.54 g) than in the control group (1.83 ± 0.89 g) (p < 0.05). The whey peptide-based enteral diet group exhibited higher tumor cell apoptosis, lower cell proliferation, and inactive angiogenesis indicating by higher degree of TUNEL, lower positive rates of Ki-67, VEGF, and CD34 than control group. It also attenuated inflammatory cell infiltration of spleen and liver as indicated by the decreased spleen index (10.89 ± 2.06 vs. 12.85 ± 2.92, p < 0.05) and increased liver index (58.09 ± 11.37 vs. 53.19 ± 6.67, p < 0.05) in the whey peptide-based enteral diet group than the control diet group. These results proved the inhibitory effect of the whey peptide-based enteral diet on tumor growth, which might be attributed to the whey peptides component. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: A whey peptide-based enteral diet (MEIN® ), containing cheese whey and multiple nutrients, was selected to verify the anti-tumor effect by animal experiments. The tumor weight growth, tumor cell proliferation, inflammatory cell infiltration of spleen and liver in tumor model mice was significantly attenuated by the whey peptide-based enteral diet, that might be attributed to its whey peptides component. These results provided an additive direction for cancer therapy and need a further study including clinical trials.© 2023 Institute of Food Technologists.