Lactoferrin

                         Health Benefits of Lactoferrin

•  Fighting infections to promote skin healing
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•  Boosting the Immune System
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•  Antiviral activity - HIV, Hepatitis C
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•  Antifungal activity
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•  Anticarcinogenic activity
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•  Bone activity
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•  Cystic fibrosis
•  Aiding Fat Loss

                                Fighting off infections promote skin healing

Lactoferrin helps promote skin healing. Clinical studies have shown that taking a lactoferrin supplement can also help clear acne. Lactoferrin can be found in milk, but cow’s milk only has a trace of this protein, which means you would need to drink an impossibly massive amount of milk daily to achieve any benefit, so the best way of consuming an effective dose of lactoferrin is by taking an oral soluble supplement such as each daily dosage will contain a minimum of 160mg of lactoferrin.



                                 Boosting the Immune System


Boosting the immune system is yet another of lactoferrin's functions. It's believed to stimulate phagocytosis, the engulfing of foreign organisms and waste material by specialized immune cells like macrophages and granulocytes. Additionally, it influences the number, maturity and activation of numerous other immune response cells, such as T-lymphocytes- specialized white blood cells key in protecting the body from pathogenic attack.
Lactoferrin may not yet be a well-known ingredient to the general public, but it’s one of the most effective proteins to help boost the immune system, help protect the body against bacterial infections
Lactoferrin is a protein that has many innate immunity functions so it plays a role in protecting us from bacterial, viral, fungal, and protozoal infections. "It can even protect us from some forms of cancer,” says special issue guest editor Dr. Hans Vogel, a professor at the University of Calgary. “Some people describe this protein as the ‘Swiss army knife’ of the human host defense system".


                     Antiviral activity - HIV, Hepatitis C

Lactoferrin acts, mostly in vitro, on a wide range of human and animal viruses based on DNA and RNA genomes, including the herpes simplex virus 1 and 2, cytomegalovirus, HIV, hepatitis C virus, hantaviruses, rotaviruses, poliovirus type 1, human respiratory syncytial virus and murine leukemia viruses.
The most studied mechanism of antiviral activity of lactoferrin is its diversion of virus particles from the target cells. Many viruses tend to bind to the lipoproteins of the cell membranes and then penetrate into the cell. Lactoferrin binds to the same lipoproteins thereby repelling the virus particles. Iron-free apolactoferrin is more efficient in this function than hololactoferrin; and lactoferricin, which is responsible for antimicrobial properties of lactoferrin, shows almost no antiviral activity.
Beside interacting with the cell membrane, lactoferrin also directly binds to viral particles, such as the hepatitis viruses. This mechanism is also confirmed by the antiviral activity of lactoferrin against rotaviruses, which act on different cell types.
Lactoferrin also suppresses virus replication after the virus penetrates into the cell. Such an indirect antiviral effect is achieved by affecting natural killer cells, granulocytes and macrophages – cells, which play a crucial role in the early stages of viral infections, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

                                    Antifungal activity

Lactoferrin shows promise for protection against human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted virus known to cause genital warts and contribute to the development of cervical cancer. In a 2007 report published in Antiviral Research, tests on cells demonstrated that lactoferrin sourced from cow milk may help inhibit human papillomavirus infection.
Lactoferrin and lactoferricin inhibit in vitro growth of Trichophyton mentagrophytes, which are responsible for several skin diseases such as ringworm.  Lactoferrin also acts against the Candida albicans – a diploid fungus (a form of yeast) that causes opportunistic oral and genital infections in humans.  Fluconazole has long been used against Candida albicans, which resulted in emergence of strains resistant to this drug. However, a combination of lactoferrin with fluconazole can act against fluconazole-resistant strains of Candida albicans as well as other types of Candida: C. glabrata, C. krusei, C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis.  Antifungal activity is observed for sequential incubation of Candida with lactoferrin and then with fluconazole, but not vice versa. The antifungal activity of lactoferricin exceeds that of lactoferrin. In particular, synthetic peptide lactoferricin shows much greater activity against Candida albicans than native lactoferricin.



                                Anticarcinogenic activity

The anticancer activity of bovine lactoferrin (bLF) has been demonstrated in experimental lung, bladder, tongue, colon, and liver carcinogeneses on rats, possibly by suppression of phase I enzymes, such as cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2). Also, in another experiment done on hamsters, bovine lactoferrin decreased the incidence of oral cancer by 50%. Because bLF by far did not show any toxicity and because it's readily available in milk, bLF offers promise as a potential chemopreventive agent for oral cancer. Currently, bLF is used as an ingredient in yogurt, chewing gums, infant formulas, and cosmetics.



                                                     Bone activity



Ribonuclease-enriched lactoferrin has been used to examine how lactoferrin affects bone. Lactoferrin has shown to have positive effects on bone turnover. It has aided in decreasing bone resorption and increasing bone formation. This was indicated by a decrease in the levels of two bone resorption markers (deoxypyridinoline and N-telopeptide) and an increase in the level two bone formation markers (osteocalcin and alkaline phosphatase). It has reduced osteoclast formation, which signifies a decrease in pro-inflammatory responses and an increase in anti-inflammatory responses  which indicates a reduction in bone resorption as well.

                                   Cystic fibrosis

The human lung and saliva contain a wide range of antimicrobial compound including lactoperoxidase system, producing hypothiocyanite and lactoferrin, with hypothiocyanite missing in cystic fibrosis patients. Lactoferrin, a component of innate immunity, prevents bacterial biofilm development. The loss of microbicidal activity and increased formation of biofilm due to decreased lactoferrin activity is observed in patients with cystic fibrosis. These findings demonstrate the important role of lactoferrin in human host defense and especially in the lung.

                         Lactoferrin For Fat Loss

The potential anti-obesity effect of lactoferrin was confirmed in obese mice, when researchers found that a lactoferrin-rich diet resulted in increased fat loss. Another study in mice found that a lactoferrin-rich whey protein isolate prevents obesity by inhibiting weight gain, and fights obesity by enhancing fat loss. During spontaneous feeding (when mice were not calorie restricted), the lactoferrin-rich whey protein isolate prevented weight gain and fatty liver formation. During a calorie-restricted diet, the lactoferrin-rich whey protein isolate enhanced fat loss.
New research is showing that lactoferrin might help humans shed body fat as well. One indicator is that higher blood levels of lactoferrin are associated with lower BMI (body mass index, an indicator of obesity), lower waist-to-hip ratio, and lower fasting triglyceride (blood fat) and glucose concentrations.

A number of studies confirm this finding as well. In one notable study, healthy men and women between 22 and 60 years old supplemented with 300 mg of lactoferrin tablets a day for 8 weeks. Subjects were told to maintain their regular food habits. Compared to the placebo group, the group taking the lactoferrin supplement experienced a significant 12.3% reduction in intra-abdominal (visceral) fat. The lactoferrin group also showed significant decreases in body weight (-3.3 lb), BMI (-0.6), hip circumference (-1 inch), and waist circumference (-1.7 inches). The placebo group, on the other hand, gained 2.2 pounds.
The researchers concluded that lactoferrin appears to be a promising supplement for counteracting the accumulation of belly fat.


What is Lactoferrin?

Lactoferrin (LF) is a human protein that has many functions. Also known as lactotransferrin, it is found in breast milk and in mucosal secretions, such as saliva, tears, and gastric secretions. This protein has strong antibacterial activity, due to both iron-binding properties and the intrinsic structure of the protein. It also modulates inflammatory events. In combination with hypothiocyanate, lactoferrin is used to treat cystic fibrosis patients.

The antimicrobial defense system of the respiratory tract involves layers of defense mechanisms that protect it, and the lungs, against microorganisms that have been inhaled.

Lactoferrin is one of the components of the immune system of the body; it has antimicrobial activity (bacteriocide, fungicide) and is part of the innate defense, mainly at mucoses. In particular, lactoferrin provides antibacterial activity to human infants. Lactoferrin interacts with DNA and RNA, polysaccharides and heparin, and shows some of its biological functions in complexes with these ligands.





 

Lactoferrin is one of the transferrin proteins that transfer iron to the cells and control the level of free iron in the blood and external secretions. Though human colostrum (“first milk”) has the highest concentration, followed by human milk, then cow’s milk, lactoferrin is found throughout the human body.

 

Breast milk contains lactoferrin

Published studies examining lactoferrin as a supplement and its beneficial effects on immunity have been quite promising.  Lactoferrin helps maintain a proper level of “good” bacteria in the intestinal tract, while controlling the number of “bad” bacteria.  Lactoferrin is also known to have an extremely high affinity to bind to iron.

Studies show that apolactoferrin, the iron-depleted form of lactoferrin, has unique benefits and may be superior to lactoferrin for supplementation. Life Extension’s lactoferrin supplement from bovine whey contains only the superior apolactoferrin form of this important whey.

                                    
First isolated from human milk in 1960, lactoferrin (above), also known as lactotransferrin, is an important member of raw bovine (cow's) milk's self-defense system.

A member of the glycoprotein family- a class of large molecules in which a group of sugars teams up with a functional protein, it's found in tears, saliva and other bodily fluids as well.

Over the past few decades, a large number of studies have looked at lactoferrin's many bioactive properties, and ways to commercialize them.

Interestingly, the first 52 amino acids of the nearly 700 that form the molecule are functionally identical to those in human lactoferrin, and appear to be where the bulk of its activity lies. The rest of the molecule is fairly similar as well (see table below). 




  Sources of Lactoferrin

When used in dietary supplement form, lactoferrin is typically sourced from cow's milk or genetically modified rice or cow's milk.

There's some evidence that colostrum (the first milk produced by lactating women after giving birth) contains particularly high levels of lactoferrin.

Caveats

When taken in excessive doses, lactoferrin may cause a number of adverse effects, including fatigue, constipation, and loss of appetite.

The long-term safety of lactoferrin use isn't known.

Where To Find It

Widely available for purchase online, supplements containing lactoferrin are available in many natural-foods stores, drugstores, and stores specializing in dietary supplements.
Using Lactoferrin for Health


            

 

         

 

References: Sánchez L, Calvo M, Brock JH, Levin RE, Kalidas S, Gopinadhan P, Pometto A,
Helga George,  Bharadwaj S, Naidu AG, Betageri GV, Prasadarao NV, Naidu AS,
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Tanaka K, Tsuda H, Sekine K, Fujita K, Ligo M, Chandra Mohan KV, Kumaraguruparan R, Prathiba D, Nagini S,  Singh PK, Parsek MR, Greenberg EP, Welsh MJ, _{Kaito M, Iwasa M, Fujita N, Kobayashi Y, Kojima Y, Ikoma J, Imoto I, Adachi Y, Hamano H, Yamauchi K,} Pilvi TK, Harala S, Korpela R, Mervaala EM.