Divine Aleru, Microbiome Signatures Research Coordinator

Lactoferrin (F) is a naturally occurring iron-binding glycoprotein classified as a postbiotic with immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, and prebiotic-like properties.

This review outlines lactoferrin’s selective antimicrobial and prebiotic effects, showing how it inhibits pathogens while promoting specific probiotic strains through iron sequestration, metabolic modulation, and glycan delivery.

Lactoferrin supports vaginal microbiome balance by inhibiting pathogens and enhancing Lactobacillus colonization, with immunomodulatory effects.

Lactoferrin effectively inhibits Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens via iron sequestration and membrane disruption, with microbiome-preserving potential.

This 22-year review maps lactoferrin’s antibacterial research, highlighting its pathogen-specific inhibition, microbiome support, and clinical promise.

Lactoferrin blocks viral entry, activates immune responses, and reduces the severity of common infections, making it a promising preventive tool.

This review found oral lactoferrin to be safe and potentially beneficial in viral infections, but clinical outcomes remain inconsistent.

Lactoferrin and its peptides block pathogen virulence, reduce toxin production, and disrupt biofilms, offering a microbiome-safe antimicrobial strategy.

Lactoferrin prevents viral entry by binding to host cell receptors and viral particles, reducing apoptosis and inflammation while preserving microbiome stability.

What was reviewed?This review examined the antifungal properties of lactoferrin (Lf) and its derived peptides, especially lactoferricin, lactoferrampin, and Lf(1–11), highlighting their mechanisms of action and potential for synergistic use with antifungal drugs. The paper consolidated findings from multiple in vitro and some in vivo studies to explain how these molecules exert direct antifungal activity, […]