During the XV International Conference on Lactoferrin 2021 which was held in Beijing in December, a session was dedicated on the effects of lactoferrin in containing the symptoms of Covid-19. On the subject, in September, an Italian clinical study was published in the ‘Journal of Clinical Medicine’, concerning the oral administration of lactoferrin in patients with Covid-19, conducted using lactoferrin in capsules (Mosiac, Pharmaguida). We talk about it with Piera Valenti, full professor of Microbiology at the University of Rome La Sapienza and member of the International Committee of Experts on lactoferrin and with Dr. Enrico Naldi, general practitioner of Florence.
Professor Valenti that news emerged from the International Conference on Lactoferrin
“There have been a number of reports confirming the efficacy of lactoferrin in fighting SARS-CoV-2 infections. In fact, various Italian and international researchers have presented the results obtained in in vitro models which have shown how lactoferrin inhibits, in the early stages, the entry of the virus into cells and, consequently, infection by SARS-CoV-2. This inhibition is associated with a link between lactoferrin and specific cell structures and virus spike glycoproteins. Furthermore, the results of the clinical studies presented, even if only on hundreds of Covid-19 patients, have shown that, in addition to vaccines, a winning strategy against Covid-19 can be represented, in patients affected by SARS-CoV-2, from immediate treatment with lactoferrin.
We are struggling with the variants of the virus, lactoferrin is also useful on the variants
“Yes, Professor Mattia Falconi published in 2021 a work which demonstrates a link between lactoferrin and the Wuhan variant of spike. It is currently publishing data from another in vitro study on the link between lactoferrin and the variants Alpha, Beta, Delta and Omicron, which confirm the excellent results obtained in clinical trials in which patients affected by the different SARS-CoV-2 variants were treated. always with 1 g of lactoferrin per day “.
There may be differences between the lactoferrins on the market
“Unfortunately. In fact, the cost of lactoferrin varies in relation to purity and some companies purchase low-cost and therefore low-quality lactoferrin which, consequently, does not have the same effectiveness in fighting infections compared to pure preparations. Furthermore, some manufacturers, to avoid international patents already granted on the various functions of lactoferrin, market products in which lactoferrin is mixed with vitamins or zinc, without having performed any scientific research. The International Committee on Lactoferrin, of which I am a member, recommended in the last International Conference on Lactoferrin (Beijing,
Dr. Naldi, how long have you been using lactoferrin
“For about 2 years, that is, since I began to research, I have understood that this natural protein, with no adverse effects and present in high concentration in breast milk and in all human secretions, can be particularly effective in anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity. If lactoferrin is present in all secretions and is produced by neutrophils, one of the most important innate immune cells, it means that it plays a fundamental role in the defenses of our organism “.
You and one of her collaborators were among the first to observe that administering lactoferrin in positive patients resulted in rapid negativization of the tampon and no hospitalization.
“Yes, we started using lactoferrin already at the beginning of the second wave, alone in asymptomatic patients and in combination with anti-inflammatory drugs such as NSAIDs or with other therapies, where necessary for previous pathologies, in pauci-symptomatic patients or moderately symptomatic. It is also important to use it promptly, ie at the onset of the first symptoms or immediately after the positive response of the tampon. Our preliminary data on 25 patients with Covid-19 were presented at the Covid Congress which was held in Codogno in December 2020 “.
He continued this treatment with his other patients who tested positive as well
“Yes, given the excellent results we had obtained from a clinical point of view. Consider that in that period there were many infections, even many hospitalizations and unfortunately also many deaths. The immediate administration of lactoferrin in the asymptomatic or in association with therapy with NSAIDs and other drugs in the symptomatic, continued to provide positive and encouraging results so as to apply this therapeutic scheme even in the third wave, always intervening immediately, without using only the tachipirina and apply watchful waiting. We collected these results together with other colleagues who were using lactoferrin treatment and published in the ‘Journal of Clinical Medicine’. Our patients, about a hundred, treated with lactoferrin, specifically with Mosiac capsules, they were negative ten days earlier than the group that did not take lactoferrin. Furthermore, none of our patients were hospitalized and there was no death. And I am continuing to use it, always in a timely manner, that is when the first symptoms appear “.
So you did not use the famous protocol, at the center of much controversy, ‘Tachipirina and watchful waiting’
“No and I am proud not to have done so because this virus is sneaky and it is necessary to check its weapons immediately … try not to allow it to replicate and extinguish inflammation as soon as possible: against the replication of SARS-CoV-2 and inflammation, the addition of lactoferrin in the treatment of these patients has proved to be an ideal ally “.
We hear about symptoms that occur after healing from the virus, a long tail of the infection, called Long Covid. What can you tell us about it
“As for all my patients who have had the infection and who I have treated immediately with lactoferrin alone or combined with NSAIDs or other drugs if necessary, none of them have had Long Covid problems.”
In his clinical experience he has noticed differences in the negativization times of the tampon in patients affected by the Omicron variant or by the previous variants using lactoferrin
“Yes, with the Omicron variant the negativization occurs in a shorter time than the Delta variant: on average in 5 days using 1 g of lactoferrin, ie 5 capsules a day, away from meals “.
