Effect of Malabari goat lactoferrin on tumour growth kinetics in experimentally induced tumours in mice

Abstract

Lactoferrin, a minor whey protein, possesses a multitude of biological functions including antimicrobial, immunomodulatory and antitumour activities. The present study focuses on the antitumour activity of lactoferrin isolated from Malabari goats. Lactoferrin was isolated from Malabari goat colostrum by Cation exchange chromatography. The purity of the isolated protein was confirmed by SDS-PAGE and its identity was ascertained by Western Blotting. Solid tumours were induced in hind limbs of Swiss Albino mice using Daltons lymphoma ascites cells. Animals which developed the tumours were divided into groups and administered different doses of Malabari goat lactoferrin (MgLf) intratumourally as a single dose. The tumour positive animals were sacrificed on day 10 post treatment to study the effects of MgLf on tumour growth kinetics by assessing the tumour weight: body weight ratio and tumour volume inhibition of the slaughtered animals. It was found that MgLf @150μg significantly lowered the tumour weight: body weight ratio and tumour volume of the treated animals.