Oral administration of lactoferrin enhances the productions of IFN-γ and IL-10 in spleen cells cultured with concanavalin A or lipopolysaccharide

Abstract

We examined the effects of orally administered lactoferrin (LF) on cytokine productions of spleen cells. Spleen cells from BALB/c mice were cultured with concanavalin A 1 to 4 days after the oral administration of bovine LF. Concentrations of IFN-γ in the supernatants were enhanced by LF feeding, while those of IL-4 were not. In contrast to LF, an oral administration of β-lactoglobulin or pepsin hydrolysate of LF failed to show the enhancement. When stimulated by anti-CD3 antibody, IFN-γ production by CD4+ T cells fractionated from spleen cells was augmented by the oral administration of LF. On the other hand, in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), spleen cells from the mice fed LF secreted enhanced levels of IL-10. Levels of IFN-γ secretion from the spleen cells were not affected. While IL-10 production in response to LPS by CD11c+ cells from spleen cells was promoted by LF feeding, the cytokine secretion from CD11b+ cells was not affected. These results indicate that enterally administered LF affects the host immune responses by modulating cytokine responses, and suggest a possible clinical application of LF as a drug for immune modulator.