Cipriano M, Ruberti E, Tovani-Palone MR. Combined use of lactoferrin and vitamin D as a preventive and therapeutic supplement for SARS-CoV-2 infection: Current evidence. World J Clin Cases 2022; 10(32): 11665-11670 [PMID: 36405280 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i32.11665]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Marcos Roberto Tovani-Palone, PhD, Academic Research, Department of Research Analytics, Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai 600 077, India. marcos_palone@hotmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Article-Type of This Article
Opinion Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Massimiliano Cipriano, Department of Laparoscopic Surgery, Umberto I General Hospital, Medical School Sapienza University, Rome 161, Italy
Enzo Ruberti, Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome 00185, Italy
Marcos Roberto Tovani-Palone, Department of Research Analytics, Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai 600 077, India
Author contributions: Cipriano M helped with study conception and design and writing of the manuscript; Ruberti E helped with study design and writing of the manuscript; Tovani-Palone MR helped with the writing of the original draft, and with critical review and editing of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflicts of interests.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Marcos Roberto Tovani-Palone, PhD, Academic Research, Department of Research Analytics, Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai 600 077, India. marcos_palone@hotmail.com
Received: May 5, 2022 Peer-review started: May 5, 2022 First decision: June 16, 2022 Revised: July 10, 2022 Accepted: August 30, 2022 Article in press: August 30, 2022 Published online: November 16, 2022 Processing time: 186 Days and 10 Hours
Abstract
Lactoferrin is a multifunctional protein that exhibits anti-inflammatory, immune regulating and anti-infective properties. One of its receptor sites is located on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The binding of lactoferrin with heparin sulfate proteoglycans may prevent the first contact between the virus and host cells, thus preventing subsequent infection. Given that lactoferrin may act as a natural mucosal barrier, an intranasal treatment together with its oral intake can be hypothesized to prevent the spread, infection and inflammation caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Moreover, the literature reports that vitamin D plays an essential role in promoting immune response. With its anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory properties, vitamin D is critical for activating the immune system’s defenses, improving immune cell function. Different studies also demonstrate that lactoferrin is a potential activator of the vitamin D receptor. In this sense, the combined use of lactoferrin (through an association of oral intake and a nasal spray formulation) and vitamin D could represent a valuable therapy for COVID-19 treatment and prevention. However, further randomized clinical trials are needed before recommending/prescribing them.
Core Tip: The combined use of lactoferrin, using a nasal spray formulation in association with its oral intake, and vitamin D could represent, through a synergistic action, a valuable therapy for coronavirus disease 2019 treatment and prevention.
