Detection of lactoferrin in the neutrophils and plasma of the patients suffering from hepatitis C.

Lactoferrin (LF) has antimicrobial properties against bacteria, fungi and several viruses including herpes virus, HIV and hepatitis C virus. The aim of this study was to detect LF in PMNs and plasma of the patients suffering from hepatitis C and the healthy persons. The sonicated solutions of PMNs of two groups were evaluated by SDS-PAGE (10%), isoelectric focusing (30%) and dot blotting. The level of LF in plasma was measured by ELISA. The results confirmed the presence of LF in PMNs of the two groups. ELISA showed that the level of LF in plasma of patients was higher than normal persons. Based on these findings we conclude that not only the production of LF was not reduced in the patients but also its level was significantly increased compared with the normal persons(P less than 0.0001).