Delivery of lactoferrin to cells using biodegradable microcapsules

The possibility of the effective delivery of lactoferrin to the cells of the innate immune system (neutrophils and monocytes) by means of biodegradable polyelectrolyte microcapsules has been shown. A study of the effect of the structural component of microcapsules, poly-L-arginine, has shown that the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was maximum at a concentration of the polyelectrolyte of 0.5 μg/mL. Increasing the polycation concentration significantly decreased the neutrophil viability and ROS production. The study of neutrophil apoptosis showed that hollow microcapsules containing no lactoferrin accelerated the apoptosis of phagocytes by 15–20%. Encapsulated lactoferrin inhibited the neutrophil apoptosis by 65–70%, whereas nonencapsulated lactoferrin decreased it by 35%. It was found that encapsulated lactoferrin reduced the production of TNF-α by THP-1 promonocytic cells to an approximately the same degree as nonencapsulated lactoferrin.