Les peptides bioactifs du lait et leur intérêt dans la prévention des maladies cardiovasculaires et du syndrome métabolique

Beyond their nutritional value, milk proteins are molecule-precursors of peptides with biological activities. Theses peptides are released by enzymatic hydrolysis and exert a number of activities (antihypertensive, antithrombotic, antioxidant, immunomodulatory; acting on the hormones…) to affect the digestive, cardiovascular, immune and nervous systems. A few bioactive peptides have been tested in human trials and have generated data that can be submitted to meta-analysis. The available evidence indicates that bioactive tripeptides with antihypertensive activities reduce the risk of elevated blood pressure in subject with a moderate hypertension. Thus it is a unique example that shows that milk bioactive peptide may play a potential role in the prevention of pathologies such as cardiovascular diseases and the metabolic syndrome. Tripeptides can participate to prevention strategies. This review is focused on the milk bioactive peptides and summarizes the current knowledge on their potential benefits in the prevention of risks in metabolic syndrome and its complications via the regulation of blood pressure, the uptake of free radicals, and the regulation of food intake.