Investigating the Effects of Lactoferricin Obtained from Lactoferrin on Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa Bacteria

Lactoferricin, a cationic peptide, contains 25 amino acids and is located in domain I of the N-lactoferrin lobe. This peptide has more antibacterial activity than lactoferrin. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of Lactoferricin on the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

After isolation from camel milk, lactoferrin was purified using CM-Sephadex C-50 ion-exchange chromatography. Then, Lactoferricin was prepared by modified Law and Reiter methods and the protein was analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and the antibacterial effect of different concentrations of lactoferricin against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus was investigated.

According to the obtained results, a concentration of 5 µg/ml Lactoferricin had the least inhibitory effect on the studied bacteria. Also, concentrations of 15 and 23 µg/ml Lactoferricin with the inhibitory potency of 26-48 and 42-50% had the greatest inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, respectively.

Based on the results of the study, Lactoferricin has a significant and dose-dependent inhibitory effect on the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The results show that Lactoferricin as an antibacterial agent can be useful in a variety of commercial programs to control the growth and survival of many pathogens.