Rheumatoid arthritis-preventive agent for oral intake

Abstract

There is provided a rheumatoid arthritis inhibitor for oral intake that has an inhibitory effect on rheumatoid arthritis and is excellent in safety. The rheumatoid arthritis inhibitor for oral intake of the present invention contains, as an active component, a casein hydrolysate containing free amino acids and peptides obtained by hydrolyzing animal milk casein to have an average chain length of not longer than 2.1 in terms of the number of amino acid residues, or a mixture of free amino acids and peptides contained in the hydrolysate.

1 . A rheumatoid arthritis inhibitor for oral intake comprising, as an active component, a casein hydrolysate comprising free amino acids and peptides obtained by hydrolyzing animal milk casein to have an average chain length of not longer than 2.1 in terms of the number of amino acid residues, or a mixture of free amino acids and peptides contained in said hydrolysate. 
     
     
         2 . The rheumatoid arthritis inhibitor according to  claim 1 , wherein said casein hydrolysate is a product of enzymatic digestion of animal milk casein with an enzyme derived from  Aspergillus.