new study: lactoferrin given with diflucan for yeast

[Guest guest]

I thought some of you might be interested in these research...

It was posted on a site by Dr. Leo Galland, who successfully cleared my son of

yeast after heavy antibiotics were given during a bout of Whooping Cough he

acquired at 4 months of age just after being given the vaccine, (many years

ago.) The dietary supplement lactoferrin is the subject of promising research

for its ability to augment drug therapy for candida (yeast).

Hope this is helpful - Swenson

Study:

Scientists at the University Centre for Pharmacy in The Netherlands looked at

potential beneficial drug-supplement interaction between lactoferrin and

fluconazole (brand name Diflucan), a drug used for treating yeast infections.

According to the scientists, failures in the treatment of difficult cases of

candida call for new treatments to support the activity of the common antifungal

agents. They studied the effect of lactoferrin used with three different

antifungal drugs and found that: " The use of lactoferrin and fluconazole

appeared to be the most successful combination. Significant reductions in the

minimal effective concentrations of fluconazole were found when it was combined

with a relatively low lactoferrin concentration. " (Kuipers ME, et al.)

Please see abstract below for more information.

Reference and Abstract:Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1999 Nov;43(11):2635-41.

Synergistic fungistatic effects of lactoferrin in combination with antifungal

drugs against clinical Candida isolates. Kuipers ME, de Vries HG, Eikelboom MC,

Meijer DK, Swart PJ.Section of Pharmacokinetics and Drug Delivery, Groningen

University Institute for Drug Studies, University Centre for Pharmacy, 9713 AV

Groningen, The Netherlands. kuipers.nl@...

Because of the rising incidence of failures in the treatment of oropharyngeal

candidosis in the case of severely immunosuppressed patients (mostly human

immunodeficiency virus [HIV]-infected patients), there is need for the

development of new, more effective agents and/or compounds that support the

activity of the common antifungal agents. Since lactoferrin is one of the

nonspecific host defense factors present in saliva that exhibit antifungal

activity, we studied the antifungal effects of human, bovine, and iron-depleted

lactoferrin in combination with fluconazole, amphotericin B, and

5-fluorocytosine in vitro against clinical isolates of Candida species. Distinct

antifungal activities of lactoferrin were observed against clinical isolates of

Candida. The MICs generally were determined to be in the range of 0.5 to 100 mg.

ml(-1). Interestingly, in the combination experiments we observed pronounced

cooperative activity against the growth of Candida by using lactoferrin and the

three antifungals tested. Only in a limited concentration range was minor

antagonism detected. The use of lactoferrin and fluconazole appeared to be the

most successful combination. Significant reductions in the minimal effective

concentrations of fluconazole were found when it was combined with a relatively

low lactoferrin concentration (1 mg/ml). Such combinations still resulted in

complete growth inhibition, while synergy of up to 50% against several Candida

species was observed. It is concluded that the combined use of lactoferrin and

antifungals against severe infections with Candida is an attractive therapeutic

option. Since fluconazole-resistant Candida species have frequently been

reported, especially in HIV-infected patients, the addition of lactoferrin to

the existing fluconazole therapy could postpone the occurrence of species

resistance against fluconazole. Clinical studies to further elucidate the

potential utility of this combination therapy have been initiated