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Introduction The 14th International Conference on Lactoferrin, Structure, Function, and Applications was held on 4-8 November 2019, in a new hotel conference center in the beautiful Miraflores district of Lima, [...]

Abstract: Lactoferrin (Lf) is the major whey protein in milk, with multiple beneficial health effects including direct antimicrobial activities, anti-inflammatory effects, and iron homeostasis. Oral Lf supplementation in human preterm [...]

Abstract: Lactoferrin (LF) is a breast milk glycoprotein with antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects. Its beneficial properties in infants, especially in those born preterm, are currently being studied in clinical trials. [...]

The study described in this article evaluated sources of contamination of children's food and drinking water in rural households in the highlands of Peru. Samples from children's meals, drinking water, kitchen utensils, and caregivers' and children's hands were analyzed for total coliforms and E. coli counts using Petrifilm EC. Thermotolerant coliforms in water were measured using DelAgua test kits while diarrheagenic E. coli was identified using polymerase chain reaction methods (PCR). Thermotolerant coliforms were found in 48% of all water samples. E. coli was found on 23% of hands, 16% of utensils, and 4% of meals. Kitchen cloths were the item most frequently contaminated with total coliforms (89%) and E. coli (42%). Diarrheagenic E. coli was found in 33% of drinking water, 27% of meals, and on 23% of kitchen utensils. These findings indicate a need to develop hygiene interventions that focus on specific kitchen utensils and hand washing practices, to reduce the contamination of food, water, and the kitchen environment in these rural settings., Introduction Diarrheal diseases are among the leading causes of childhood illness and death in developing countries, killing an estimated 1.3 million children less than five years of age annually (Black [...]

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. Key words: lactoferrin, clinical studies, clinical trials, children. Au cours des dernieres annees, on en a appris beaucoup sur les mecanismes par lesquels l'allaitement ameliore la sante et la survie de l'enfant. Cependant, il y a eu peu de progres quant a l'utilisation de ces connaissances pour ameliorer les soins pediatriques. Cette etude vise a passer en revue toutes les etudes cliniques portant sur la lactoferrine chez les enfants, afin de determiner quelles sont les interventions qui peuvent ameliorer les soins pediatriques ou necessitent des recherches plus approfondies. Nous avons realise une revue systematique et critique de la litterature publiee et nous avons trouve 19 etudes cliniques dans lesquelles la lactoferrine bovine ou humaine avait ete utilisee a differentes fins : le metabolisme du fer et l'anemie (6 etudes), la flore fecale (5 etudes), les infections enteriques (3 etudes), les maladies pediatriques courantes (1 etude), l'immunomodulation (3 etudes) et la sepsie neonatale (1 etude). Malgre une efficacite variable selon les essais, la principale conclusion tiree de toutes ces etudes publiees etait la securite de l'intervention. La protection contre les infections enteriques et la sepsie neonatale constituent probablement les activites les plus pertinentes biologiquement de la lactoferrine chez les enfants. Si les donnees decoulant des etudes portant sur la sepsie s'averent justes, cela affectera profondement le traitement des nouveaux-nes de faible poids et contribuera a la reduction de la mortalite infantile dans le monde. Mots-cles : lactoferrine, etudes cliniques, essais cliniques, enfants., Introduction The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated 8.7 million deaths in children younger than 5 years of age in 2008 globally (Black et al. 2010). Infectious diseases caused 68% [...]

Here, we determined the effect of bovine lactoferrin (bLF) on the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of ampicillin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole in Shigella. Using a microdilution method, the MIC was determined in the presence or absence of bovine lactoferrin (10 mg/mL) on 88 Shigella strains (56 Shigella flexneri,15 Shigella boydii,13 Shigella sonnei, and 4 Shigella dysenteriae) previously isolated from peruvian children Key words: Shigella, resistance, lactoferrin, antibiotics. Nous determinons l'effet de la lactoferrine bovine (bLF) sur la concentration inhibitrice minimale (CIM) de l'ampicilline et du couple trimethoprime-sulfamethoxazole envers Shigella. En utilisant une methode de microdilution la CIM a ete determinee en presence ou en absence de bLF (10 mg/mL) sur 88 souches de Shigella (56 S. flexneri,15 S. boydii,13 S. sonnei et 4 S. dysenteriae) isolees precedemment chez des enfants peruviens de moins de deux ans. Un changement de valeur de CIM de deux fois ou plus etait considere significatif. Soixante-sept souches (76 %) etaient hautement resistantes a l'ampicilline; la presence de bLF diminuait la valeur de CIM de l'amplicilline sur le tiers des souches. Cette diminution des valeurs de CIM s'observait surtout sur les souches moins resistantes. La presence de bLF amenait sept souches resistantes a l'ampicilline (8 %) a l'interieur des limites permettant de les considerer comme sensibles. Quant au trimethoprime- sulfamethoxazole, 93 % des isolats y etaient hautement resistants, les valeurs de CIM n'etant diminuees par la bLF que sur 4 isolats seulement (5 %). Aucune souche resistante au trimethoprime-sulfamethoxazole ne devenait sensible en presence de lactoferrine. La diminution de CIM en presence de bLF semble dependre du mecanisme d'action de chaque antibiotique. Des etudes in vivo sont necessaries pour evaluer le potentiel de la bLF comme adjuvant au traitement antibiotique des souches de Shigella resistantes. Mots-cles: Shigella, resistance, lactoferrine, antibiotiques., Introduction Diarrheal diseases cause ~1.8 million deaths worldwide per year (Boschi-Pinto et al. 2008), with Shigella being one of the leading causes of diarrhea morbidity and mortality in children under [...]

Abstract: We previously demonstrated that lactoferrin inhibits adherence of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli to HEp-2 cells and decreases invasiveness of Shigella flexneri in HeLa cells by disruption of the type III [...]

Secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) is a primary factor responsible for preventing attachment of enteropathogens to gut epithelium in breastfeeding infants. We compared the frequency of sIgA to major surface antigens [...]

Diarrheogenic Escherichia coli isolates from 45 (73%) of 62 hospitalized patients were resistant to common antimicrobial drugs. Sixty-two percent were multidrug resistant, and >70% were resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and ampicillin. [...]

Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) infections increased from 2000 to 2003 in hospitalized pediatric patients in Houston. CA-MRSA was associated with greater illness than was infection with methicillin-susceptible strains. Children [...]