Systemic and mucosal levels of lactoferrin in very low birth weight infants supplemented with bovine lactoferrin

Lactoferrin supplementation may help prevent infections in preterm infants, but the efficacy has varied with different doses and products. We assessed the absorption and excretion of bovine lactoferrin (bLF) in 31 infants receiving 100, 200, or 300 mg·kg–1·day–1 of enteral bLF for 30 days. bLF and human lactoferrin (hLF) in infant saliva, blood, urine, and stool, as well as expressed (EBM) or donor breast milk (DBM) that were collected (i) before the treatment was initiated, (ii) at study day 22, and (iii) one week after treatment cessation, were measured using ELISA. During treatment, bLF was absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and detected in plasma, saliva, and urine, as well as excreted in stool. Levels of bLF in the saliva and stool began to decline within 12 h after dosing, and bLF was undetectable in all samples one week after treatment. The concentrations of hLF exceeded those of bLF across sample types and time-points. Infants receiving EBM demonstrated higher levels of hLF in the saliva and stool than those receiving DBM. Neither bLF nor hLF levels varied by patient characteristics, bLF dosage, or infection status. This is the first study demonstrating bLF absorption into the bloodstream and distribution to saliva and urine in preterm infants. Future studies should further explore LF pharmacokinetics because higher and more frequent dosing may improve the clinical benefit of LF supplementation.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Deep-level transient spectroscopy and electrical characterization of ion-implanted p-n junctions into undoped InP

Current-voltage, small-signal measurements, and deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) spectra of p-n junctions made by Mg implantation into undoped InP are described. The I-V characteristics show that the dominant conduction mechanism at forward bias is recombination in the space-charge zone, whereas a thermally activated tunneling mechanism involving a trap at 0.32 eV dominates at reverse bias. Five deep levels located in the upper-half of the band gap were detected in the junctions by DLTS measurements, three of which (at 0.6, 0.45, and 0.425 eV) were found to appear due to rapid thermal annealing. The origin of the other two levels, at 0.31 and 0.285 eV, can be ascribed to implantation damage. Admittance spectroscopy measurements showed the presence of three levels at 0.44, 0.415, and 0.30 eV, all in agreement with those found by DLTS. The DLTS measurements showed that the concentration of deep levels decreased after longer annealing times, and that the concentration of deep levels due to the implantation increased after additional P or Si implantations. This explains the influence of annealing time and additional implantations on the I-V characteristics of the junctions