Thursday, March 28, 2024

Exploring deer velvet health benefits

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A new deer velvet project recently approved for research could provide evidence that velvet extracts can boost immune response.
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Deer Industry New Zealand (DINZ) markets manager Rhys Griffiths says the research is planned to determine whether velvet can boost innate immune cell function in humans.

The project comes under the post-farm segment of the new co-innovation model for deer research.

It is one of the industry’s projects recommended in a research Learning Phase report looking at deer velvet antler and immune function.

Timely as it is, the project was under investigation pre-covid.

With all the talk of covid vaccines, there is plenty of attention focused on immune function, while a coincidence, the timing turns out to be excellent, Griffiths said.

DINZ and AgResearch had agreed back in the pre-covid days of 2019 that immune function should be a high priority velvet property for investigation.

This was after immune support, together with anti-fatigue properties, had been identified as a principal reason for consumer use of velvet in core Asian markets.

“There have been small parcels of research done in this area over the years, but it wasn’t until 18 months ago that we commissioned the Learning Phase (report) on immune function and AgResearch scientists went out to investigate,” Griffiths said.

“The report was reviewed in May 2020 and in this new world, a virtual meeting with core markets in Asia and China found velvet use had increased in terms of immunity, particularly with consumers in South Korea and China.   

“We got the message that our core markets for velvet products will be very receptive to good evidence that velvet extracts could help boost the immune response when covid vaccines are given.”

The Learning Phase project report details the current state of knowledge and health claims made for velvet products.

It also outlines what is known about the anti-inflammatory and immune function properties of antler velvet.

Four different research options that could help support health claims for NZ deer velvet’s anti-inflammatory and immune function capabilities have been identified.

Compiled by a team of AgResearch scientists, the report notes that velvet antler extracts have demonstrated anti-inflammatory effects and that in animal models at least, velvet antler treatment has been shown to have immune-boosting properties.

While research so far has been encouraging, Griffiths said it is now about providing evidence to support marketing claims for natural products.

“All going to plan, this will help underpin NZ’s position with new rigour and confidence in the market,” he said.

“We are excited about where we are at, but there will be challenges ahead.

The concept of healthy functional foods can be difficult to pin down.

“We can’t be assured yet of an outcome but the Learning Phase looks promising,” he said.

The pathways to market for new velvet-based products with substantiated health claims are complex.

“But with good science behind them, the rewards could be significant with a lift in the consumption of velvet in our core markets,” he said.

The report details the experimental models used to build evidence to support claims.

Animal models are a next step in the process of assessing safety and efficacy.

This will be followed by human clinical trials and that is where the biggest research investment comes as the trials need to be large scale.

Much of the research supporting claims of positive biological effects from velvet has been done in Asian countries, but the report notes that the way bioactive peptides are extracted from velvet plays a big part in how they work.

Four key areas of study have been identified to fill the current knowledge gaps about the extracts and their positive health effects, especially in boosting the immune function.

These include: does velvet act as an anti-inflammatory; does velvet antler improve innate immune cell function; does it improve adaptive immune cell function and is it protective against influenza.

“We have all his research now approved, the work is scoped up, preparation is well underway to get the research started.

Griffiths expects the research work will take about 12 months.

“This time next year, we would hope to have a paper published,” he said.

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