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Published on: October 1, 2015
The Role of Lactoferrin in Gastrointestinal and Immune Development and Function: A Preclinical Perspective
1Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL.
Insights
Lactoferrin, a protein abundant in mother's milk, promotes infant gastrointestinal and immune development. Supplementation in piglets enhanced intestinal growth and modulated immune responses, supporting its role in preventing infant infections.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal development
- Immunology
- Gastroenterology
Background:
- Early postnatal development of the gastrointestinal (GI) and immune systems is crucial.
- Breast milk promotes faster GI and immune development and reduces infectious disease incidence compared to formula.
- Lactoferrin, a human milk glycoprotein, is vital for infant health advantages.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of dietary lactoferrin on GI and immune development in a preclinical model.
- To assess lactoferrin's impact on intestinal morphology and immune cell cytokine responses.
Main Methods:
- Piglets were fed bovine lactoferrin or recombinant human lactoferrin.
- Intestinal cell proliferation, villus length, and crypt depth were measured.
- Systemic and GI immune responses, including T-helper cytokine profiles and cytokine secretion, were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Lactoferrin supplementation was well tolerated and promoted intestinal cell proliferation, increasing villus length and crypt depth in piglets.
- Lactoferrin modulated both systemic and GI immune development by stimulating a balanced T-helper-1/T-helper-2 cytokine response.
- Immune cells showed increased anti-inflammatory cytokine secretion in an unstimulated state and enhanced pro-inflammatory responses to bacterial triggers.
Conclusions:
- Dietary lactoferrin supports intestinal growth and development.
- Lactoferrin influences immune maturation, promoting a balanced cytokine response and enhanced defense mechanisms.
- Findings support lactoferrin's potential role in preventing infections, late-onset sepsis, and necrotizing enterocolitis in infants.
Abstract:
The early postnatal period is a critical time for gastrointestinal (GI) and immune development. Neonates fed mother's milk have more rapid GI and immune development than fed-formula infants. In addition, clinical and epidemiologic data provide strong evidence that breastfeeding reduces the incidence and/or severity of infectious diseases. Lactoferrin is a 77 kDa, iron-binding glycoprotein that is present at high concentration in human milk compared with bovine milk and infant formula. It is a multifunctional protein that mediates many of the physiological processes in which breastfed infants have advantages over their formula-fed peers, including promoting GI and immune development, protection from infections, and improved cognitive development. Feeding bovine lactoferrin or recombinant human lactoferrin was well tolerated and stimulated intestinal cell proliferation and increased villus length and crypt depth in piglets. Lactoferrin also influenced both systemic and GI immune development by stimulating a balanced T-helper-1/T-helper-2 cytokine immune response. Further, there was a tendency for immune cells to secrete more anti-inflammatory cytokines in an unstimulated state, while being primed for a robust pro-inflammatory response when presented with a bacterial trigger in piglets fed lactoferrin. These findings support clinical studies demonstrating benefits of dietary lactoferrin in the prevention of infections, late onset sepsis, and necrotizing enterocolitis.
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