ANTIVIRAL AND IMMUNOMODULATORY EFFECTS OF ORAL BOVINE LACTOFERRIN THERAPY AMONG PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS C

Abstract

Viral hepatitis is the single most important cause of liver disease in both Egypt and the rest of the world. CHC cause progressive liver disease that may evolve into cirrhosis and HCC. Egypt could be considered one of the world’s highest HCV prevalence rates. In Egypt, subtype 4a is predominant, but new putative subtypes have been described. In addition to the current therapies PEG- IFN- α and ribavirin, there are several traditional medicines used by different Egyptian patients sectors. The most popular treatment is the use of camel milk. Depending on the HCV genotype and other factors, standerd therapy results in a sustained virologic response in 50- 80% of patients. However, many patients do not qualify for, or do not tolerate, standard therapy. Therefore, more effective and better tolerated therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. Further development in the treatment of CHC are still needed in order to improve the prognosis of CHC, particularly CHC with genotype 1b and high titer whose response to this treatment is limited to about 20%. bLf is an iron- binding glycoprotein mainly present in external secretions, such as breast milk, that is used as a health supplement in Japan. Several biological activities of LAF have been identified, including regulation of iron homeostasis, primary nonspecific defense against pathogenic microorganisms and modulation of immunoreactions, as well as bactericidal and anti- viral effects against human herpes simplex -1, human immunodeficiency virus -1 and human cytomegalovirus. Moreover, it was recently reported to prevent HCV infection in cultured hepatocytes. Experimental studies have suggested that the anti- HCV activity