Abstract
Intact (i.e., 78-kDa) lactoferrin has been purified from the urine of preterm infants fed human milk. The maternal origin of this lactoferrin, and the integrity of its primary structure have been documented. Computer analyses of the circular dichroism spectra revealed a composite secondary structure for the urinary lactoferrin that was indistinguishable from that of purified human milk lactoferrin and similar to that observed in the crystal structure. Intact function was suggested by iron binding; an approximate 2:1 molar ratio of iron to lactoferrin was confirmed. Thus, maternal lactoferrin is absorbed intact by the preterm infant and appears to remain structurally and functionally intact within the circulatory system and during urinary excretion. It is possible, therefore, that maternal lactoferrin has an immunoregulatory influence in newborn infants fed human milk.
Address correspondence to: T. William Hutchens, Department of Food Science and Technology, University of California, Davis, California, 95616.
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This project has been funded, in part, with federal funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service under Cooperative Agreement number 58-6250-1-003 and a capital equipment grant from the National Science Foundation (PCM-8413751). The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. The refined coordinates for human lactoferrin were kindly provided by Dr. Edward N. Baker and his colleagues at Massey University, New Zealand. We thank Dr. Richard J. Schanler and Pam Burns for their help with the collection of urine from preterm infants fed human milk. We thank Dr. Tai-Tung Yip and Mr. Joseph F. Henry for their help with the isolation and characterization of lactoferrin from milk and from infant urine samples.
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Knapp, R.D., Hutchens, T.W. (1994). Maternal Lactoferrin in the Urine of Preterm Infants. In: Hutchens, T.W., Rumball, S.V., Lönnerdal, B. (eds) Lactoferrin. Advances in, Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 357. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2548-6_17
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