抄録
Various actions of lactoferrin (LF) have been reported, such as antimicrobial activity and immunomodulatory effects. Recent studies have demonstrated that its oral administration has a host-protective effect in various animals and humans and bovine LF can be isolated and purified on an industrial scale from cheese whey or skim milk. While LF was found to be readily denatured to an insoluble compound by heat treatment under neutral or alkaline conditions, it is highly thermostable at pH 4, and can be pasteurized or sterilized without any significant loss of physicochemical properties. Evaluation of the safety of bovine LF has confirmed that it is non-toxic when administered orally to rats for 13 weeks at dose levels of 200, 600 or 2,000 mg/kg/day. Purified LF is used as a food supplement and products such as infant formulae and yogurts supplemented with bovine LF are now being marketed in Japan and other countries. It is expected that such LF-enriched products will contribute to better health for all people.
