Abstract
Our previous study showed that not only bovine lactoferrin (LF), the protein of milk and neutrophils, but also the human species forms complexes with oleic acid (OA) that inhibit tumor growth. Repeated injections of human LF in complex with OA (LF/8OA) to hepatoma-carrying mice decelerated tumor growth and increased animals' longevity. However, whether the effect of the LF/8OA complex is directed exclusively against malignant cells was not studied. Hence, its effect on normal blood cells was assayed, along with its possible modulation of ceruloplasmin (CP), the preferred partner of LF among plasma proteins. The complex LF/8OA (6 μM) caused hemolysis, unlike LF alone or BSA/8OA (250 μM). The activation of neutrophils with exocytosis of myeloperoxidase (MPO), a potent oxidant, was induced by 1 μM LF/8OA, whereas BSA/8OA had a similar effect at a concentration increased by an order. The egress of heme-containing proteins, i.e., MPO and hemoglobin, from blood cells affected by LF/8OA was followed by a pronounced oxidative/halogenating stress. CP, which is the natural inhibitor of MPO, added at a concentration of 2 mol per 1 mol of LF/8OA abrogated its cytotoxic effect. It seems likely that CP can be used effectively in regulating the LF/8OA complex's antitumor activity.