Lactoferrin as a Potent Natural Supplement Exhibiting a Synergistic Effect with Drugs in Antimicrobial and Anticancer Therapies

Title:Lactoferrin as a Potent Natural Supplement Exhibiting a Synergistic Effect with Drugs in Antimicrobial and Anticancer Therapies

Volume: 22 Issue: 9

Author(s): Przemysław Gajda-Morszewski and Małgorzata Brindell*

Affiliation:

• Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Gronostajowa 2, 30-387 Kraków, Poland

Keywords: Lactoferrin, synergism, antimicrobial, anticancer, mechanism of activity, modulation of iron accessibility, immunomodulation.

Abstract: For many years, natural products have played a crucial role in drug discovery and drug design as a source of active agents or as inspiration. Lactoferrin (Lf), a glycoprotein found in milk and mammalian secretions, has been extensively studied in recent years, and numerous antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties of Lf have been demonstrated in the literature. The use of lactoferrin as a co-agent or supplement to enhance the beneficial effect of drugs, or to reduce their side effects, arouses the interest of many researchers, especially since Lf is a well-studied, biocompatible, cheap, and easily accessible protein. In this mini-review, we focus on the elucidation of the role of Lf in antimicrobial or anticancer therapies, pointing to the possible mechanism underlying the determined synergism between Lf and commonly used drugs.

Cite this article as:

Gajda-Morszewski Przemysław and Brindell Małgorzata*, Lactoferrin as a Potent Natural Supplement Exhibiting a Synergistic Effect with Drugs in Antimicrobial and Anticancer Therapies, Current Protein & Peptide Science 2021; 22 (9) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1389203722666211011113932