Lactoferrin Increases Antioxidant Activities and Ameliorates Hepatic Fibrosis in Lupus-Prone Mice Fed with a High-Cholesterol Diet

Unlocking the power of Lactoferrin: Exploring its role in early life and its preventive potential for adult chronic diseases

Nutrition during the early postnatal period exerts a profound impact on both infant development and later-life health. Breast milk, which contains lactoferrin, a dynamic protein, plays a crucial role in the growth of various biological systems and in preventing numerous chronic diseases. Based on the relationship between early infant development and chronic diseases later in life, this paper presents a review of the effects of lactoferrin in early life on neonates intestinal tract, immune system, nervous system, adipocyte development, and early intestinal microflora establishment, as well as the preventive and potential mechanisms of early postnatal lactoferrin against adult allergy, inflammatory bowel disease, depression, cancer, and obesity. Furthermore, we summarized the application status of lactoferrin in the early postnatal period and suggested directions for future research.

Antifibrotic activity of carbon quantum dots in a human in vitro model of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis using hepatic stellate cells

Around 33% of the global population suffers from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). From these patients, 30% of them progress into non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), the critical point where lack of treatment leads to cirrhosis and hepatic failure. Moreover, to date, there are no approved therapeutic options available for NASH. It is known that hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation contributes the most to hepatic disfunction, leading to reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and chronic inflammation, and that the use of nanomaterials to deliver antioxidants may have potential to reduce the activity of activated HSCs. Therefore, we implemented a human in vitro co-culture model in which we take into consideration two factors related to NASH and fibrosis: human hepatic stellate cells from a NASH diagnosed donor (HHSC-N) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), particularly lymphocytes. The co-cultures were treated with: (1) carbon quantum dots (CD) or (2) lactoferrin conjugated CD (CD-LF) for 24 h or 72 h. CD and CD-LF treatments significantly downregulated profibrotic genes' expression levels of ACTA2, COL1A1, and TIMP1 in co-cultured HHSC-N at 72 h. Also, we assayed the inflammatory response by quantifying the concentrations of cytokines IL-22, IL-10, IFN-γ and IL-4 present in the co-culture's conditioned media whose concentrations may suggest a resolution-associated response in progress. Our findings may serve as a starting point for the development of a NASH treatment using bio-nanotechnology.

Role of Lactoferrin in Treatment of Bile Duct Ligation-Induced Hepatic Fibrosis in Rats: Impact on Inflammation and TGF-β1/Smad2/α SMA Signaling Pathway

Background

Hepatic fibrosis is a major health issue that might lead to hepatic cirrhosis and cancer. One of its main causes is cholestasis, which has been stimulated by bile duct ligation (BDL) to block the bile flow from the liver. As for the treatment, lactoferrin (LF), the iron-binding glycoprotein, has been evaluated in various studies for the treatment of infections, inflammation, and cancer. The current study aims to investigate the curative effects of LF on BDL-induced hepatic fibrosis in rats.

Methods

Rats were randomly allocated into 4 groups: (1) Control sham, (2) BDL: that have been subjected to a surgery of BDL, (3) BDL + LF: 14 days later after surgery; they have been subjected to LF treatment (300 mg/kg/day, po) for two weeks, and (4) LF group has been administered (300 mg/kg/day, po) for two weeks.

Results

BDL elevated inflammatory markers (tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin -1beta (IL-1β) by 635% and 250% (P ≤ 0.05), respectively, as sham group), beside it decreased the anti-inflammatory cytokine, interleukin- 10 (IL-10) by 47.7% (P ≤ 0.05) as sham group, causing inflammation, and fibrosis of the liver by the up-regulation of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1)/Smad2/α-smooth muscle actin (SMA) signaling pathway. LF treatment ameliorated these effects through its anti-inflammatory action (it significantly decreased tumor necrosis factor-alpha and IL-1β by 166% and 159% (P ≤ 0.05), respectively, as sham group, while increased IL-10 by 86.8% (P ≤ 0.05), as sham group) and anti-fibrotic effect by the down-regulation of TGF-β1/Smad2/α-SMA signaling pathway. These results were confirmed by histopathological examination.

Conclusion

lactoferrin shows promising results for the treatment of hepatic fibrosis via attenuating the TGF-β1/Smad2/α-SMA pathway and through its properties.

Lactoferrin Prevents Hepatic Injury and Fibrosis via the Inhibition of NF-κB Signaling in a Rat Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Model

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) can cause liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), with cases increasing worldwide. To reduce the incidence of liver cirrhosis and HCC, NASH is targeted for the development of treatments, along with viral hepatitis and alcoholic hepatitis. Lactoferrin (LF) has antioxidant, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory activities. However, whether LF affects NASH and fibrosis remains unelucidated. We aimed to clarify the chemopreventive effect of LF on NASH progression. We used a NASH model with metabolic syndrome established using connexin 32 (Cx32) dominant negative transgenic (Cx32ΔTg) rats. Cx32ΔTg rats (7 weeks old) were fed a high-fat diet and intraperitoneally injected with dimethylnitrosamine (DMN). Rats were divided into three groups for LF treatment at 0, 100, or 500 mg/kg/day for 17 weeks. Lactoferrin significantly protected steatosis and lobular inflammation in Cx32ΔTg rat livers and attenuated bridging fibrosis or liver cirrhosis induced by DMN. By quantitative RT-PCR, LF significantly down-regulated inflammatory (Tnf-α, Il-6, Il-18, and Il-1β) and fibrosis-related (Tgf-β1, Timp2, and Col1a1) cytokine mRNAs. Phosphorylated nuclear factor (NF)-κB protein decreased in response to LF, while phosphorylated JNK protein was unaffected. These results indicate that LF might act as a chemopreventive agent to prevent hepatic injury, inflammation, and fibrosis in NASH via NF-κB inactivation.

Effects of FGF21-secreting adipose-derived stem cells in thioacetamide-induced hepatic fibrosis

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been investigated to treat liver diseases, but the efficiency of MSCs to treat chronic liver diseases is conflicting. FGF21 can reduce inflammation and fibrosis. We established FGF21‐secreting adipose derived stem cells (FGF21_ADSCs) to enhance the effects of ADSCs and transplanted them into thioacetamide (TAA)‐induced liver fibrosis mice via the tail vein. Transplantation of FGF21_ADSCs significantly improved liver fibrosis by decreasing serum hyaluronic acid and reducing the expression of fibrosis‐related factors such as α‐smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA), collagen and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase‐1 (TIMP‐1) compared with the Empty_ADSCs by inhibition of p‐JNK, NF‐κB and p‐Smad2/3 signalling. α‐lactoalbumin (LA) and lactotransferrin (LTF), secretory factors produced from FGF21_ADSCs inhibited TGF‐β1‐induced expression of α‐SMA and collagen in LX‐2 cells. These results suggest that transplantation of FGF21_ADSCs inhibited liver fibrosis more effectively than Empty_ADSCs, possibly via secretion of α‐LA and LTF.