Bacteriostatic activity of bovine lactoferrin in mastitic milk.

The antibacterial activity of milk against a virulent strain of Escherichia coli was investigated using milk fractions from normal or inflamed glands. Mastitic whey exhibited either bactericidal or bacteriostatic activities, depending on whether bacteria were enumerated by the pour plate technique or by surface plating onto sheep blood agar. The former activity was not due to lactoferrin (Lf), which never exerted bactericidal activity, even when assayed in distilled water. Milk whey ultrafiltrate (UF) (mol. wt. less than 5000 d) was used to assay the ability of normal and mastitic milk to support the antibacterial activities of Lf against a strain of E. coli. The addition of purified Lf to UF from mastitic whey resulted in bacteriostasis, whereas Lf was without effect in UF from normal whey. It was concluded that Lf can actually slow down the growth of Lf-sensitive bacteria during mastitis, provided that plasma exudation takes place.