Journal
BIOCHEMISTRY AND CELL BIOLOGY
Volume 90, Issue 3, Pages 457-467Publisher
CANADIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING, NRC RESEARCH PRESS
DOI: 10.1139/O11-087
Keywords
lactoferrin; clinical studies; clinical trials; children
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Funding
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation [OPP1015669]
- Public Health Service [R01-HD067694-01A1]
- National Institutes of Health, U.S.A. [R01-HD051716]
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation [OPP1015669] Funding Source: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
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Much has been learned in recent years about the mechanisms by which breastfeeding improves child health and survival. However, there has been little progress in using these insights to improve pediatric care. The aim of this study was to review all clinical studies of lactoferrin (LF) in children in an effort to determine which interventions may improve pediatric care or require further research. We conducted a systematic and critical review of published literature and found 19 clinical studies that have used human or bovine LF for different outcomes: iron metabolisms and anemia (6 studies), fecal flora (5 studies), enteric infections (3 studies), common pediatric illnesses (1 study), immunomodulation (3 studies), and neonatal sepsis (1 study). Although the efficacies have varied in each trial, the main finding of all published studies is the safety of the intervention. Protection against enteric infections and neonatal sepsis are the most likely biologically relevant activities of LF in children. Future studies on neonatal sepsis should answer critically important questions. If the data from these sepsis studies are proven to be correct, it will profoundly affect the treatment of low birth weight neonates and will aid in the reduction of child mortality worldwide.
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