Abstract
Lactoferrin (LF) is an iron-binding glycoprotein with a molecular weight of about 80,000. The radioprotective effect of lactoferrin was studied in C3H/He mice following whole-body X-ray irradiation. We already reported that the survival rates of LF-diet (which contained 0.1 % w/w LF) mice after X-ray irradiation were about 23% higher than those of standard diet-mice. The scavenging abilities were evaluated by the ESR spin-trapping method and we showed that lactoferrin is a radical scavenger of hydroxyl radicals. The observations suggested that radical trapping or scavenging might cause the biological response. In this experiment, 52 of C3H/He mice were exposed 6.8 Gy of X-ray irradiation. After the irradiation, LF (4 mg) was administered 26 of mice intraperitonealy and survival rates of these mice were observed within 30 days. The survival rates of lactoferrin-treated mice and non-treated mice were 93 % and 50 %, respectively within 30 days after X-ray irradiation. Lactoferrin inhibited splenocytes apoptosis and damage on a bone marrow cell after X-ray irradiation.
