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

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