Identification of lactoferrin peptides generated by digestion with human gastrointestinal enzymes

Lactoferrin (LF) is a protein present in milk and other body fluids that plays important biological roles. As part of a diet, LF must survive gastrointestinal conditions or create bioactive fragments to exert its effects. The degradation of LF and formation of bioactive peptides is highly dependent on individual variation in intraluminal composition. The present study was designed to compare the degradation and peptide formation of bovine LF (bLF) following in vitro digestion under different simulated intraluminal conditions. Human gastrointestinal (GI) juices were used in a 2-step model digestion to mimic degradation in the stomach and duodenum. To account for variation in the buffering capacity of different lactoferrin-containing foods, gastric pH was adjusted either slowly or rapidly to 2.5 or 4.0. The results were compared with in vivo digestion of bLF performed in 2 volunteers. High concentration of GI juices and fast pH reduction to 2.5 resulted in complete degradation in the gastric step. More LF resisted gastric digestion when pH was slowly reduced to 2.5 or 4.0. Several peptides were identified; however, few matched with previously reported peptides from studies using nonhuman enzymes. Surprisingly, no bovine lactoferricin, f(17-41), was identified during in vitro or in vivo digestion under the intraluminal conditions used. The diversity of enzymes in human GI juices seems to affect the hydrolysis of bLF, generating different peptide fragments compared with those obtained when using only one or a few proteases of animal origin. Multiple sequence analysis of the identified peptides indicated a motif consisting of proline and neighboring hydrophobic residues that could restrict proteolytic processing. Further structure analysis showed that almost all proteolytic cutting sites were located on the surface and mainly on the nonglycosylated half of lactoferrin. Digestion of bLF by human enzymes may generate different peptides from those found when lactoferrin is digested by nonhuman enzymes. The degradation of LF in the GI tract should be taken into consideration when health effects are proposed, because LF has now been approved by the European Food Safety Authority as a dietary supplement in food products.