The opposing actions in vivo on murine myelopoiesis of purified preparations of lactoferrin and the colony stimulating factors

The actions of purified iron-saturated human lactoferrin (LF), purified preparations of human MiaPaCa colony stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1), and recombinant murine interleukin-3 (IL-3) were evaluated in vivo in mice. Studies in vitro were compared at lowered (5%), as well as at normal incubator (20%), oxygen (O2) tension because of the potentially greater physiologic relevance of in vitro studies performed at lowered O2 tension. The results demonstrate that 1) increased release of granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in vitro from pokeweed mitogen stimulated mouse spleen cells and from human mononuclear blood cells occurred at lowered O2 tension, and that human mononuclear blood leukocytes were more sensitive to the LF-induced suppression of GM-CSF release when cells were cultured at 5%, compared to 20%, O2 tension; 2) LF administered intravenously (IV) to mice pretreated with sublethal intraperitoneal dosages of Cytoxan decreased the cycling status of marrow and spleen granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM), erythroid (BFU-E-2 and BFU-E-1) and multipotential (CFU-GEMM) progenitor cells and the absolute numbers of these progenitors; these effects were most noticeable if care was taken to deplete endotoxin from the LF samples prior to testing LF in vivo and if the control medium was endotoxin free; 3) endotoxin-depleted LF decreased the cycling status of marrow and spleen CFU-GM, BFU-E, and CFU-GEMM and the numbers of these progenitors in the marrows of mice previously untreated with Cytoxan; these effects were most apparent when assessment of progenitor cells and their cycling rates were evaluated in vitro at lowered (5%) O2 tension; 4) purified natural human CSF-1 increased the absolute numbers of marrow CFU-GM and the cycling status of marrow CFU-GM and CFU-GEMM in mice pretreated with LF; and 5) purified recombinant murine IL-3 stimulated proliferation of day 8 and day 12 CFU-S (colony forming unit-spleen) in mice not previously treated with Cytoxan. These results substantiate the in vivo myelosuppressive effects of LF on CFU-GM and extend these effects to erythroid and multipotential progenitor cells, provide evidence that human CSF-1 has an in vivo action in mice, and confirm the studies of others showing that IL-3 stimulates the proliferation of CFU-S in vivo.