Antiparasitic activity of the iron-containing milk protein lactoferrin and its potential derivatives against human intestinal and blood parasites

Description

Namrata Anand reviews a milk protein as a weapon against parasites in a paper whose head dates it to 2023. The protein, lactoferrin, binds iron and moves it around the body. Parasites need iron to grow strong, so a protein that locks iron away could starve them while sparing the host's own cells.

The review pulls forty years of lab and animal studies into one place. The protein, its cut down peptide forms, and tiny carrier forms of it all showed action against gut and blood parasites, both inside and outside cells. It also seems to tune the immune reply. Anand argues the protein merits fresh drug work, since many parasites now resist standard drugs.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC11731944