COVID-19 and Lactoferrin: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

DOI record: { "DOI": "10.3390/covid5100176", "ISSN": [ "2673-8112" ], "URL": "http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/covid5100176", "abstract": "<jats:p>To analyze the relationship between lactoferrin and COVID-19, a systematic review and meta-analysis of works published between 2020 and 2025 was carried out. The search strategy consisted of compiling research and review articles with the keywords COVID-19 and lactoferrin, COVID-19 and lactoferrin, SARS-COV-2 and lactoferrin, and SARS-COV-2 and lactoferrin in the databases of the search engines Elsevier, PubMed, and Google Scholar. In addition, these were classified depending on the type of study (e.g., in vivo, in vitro, both, or neither). PRISMA was used to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis. A total of 1531 articles were found, of which any duplicates were discarded, leaving 1234. A second database was created for strictly research and in vivo type articles, obtaining only 69 articles. Lactoferrin demonstrated a significant effect in reducing fatigue among COVID-19 patients, contributing to improved recovery and functional status—particularly in individuals with post-acute COVID-19 syndrome. However, its impact on other symptoms did not reach statistical significance.</jats:p>", "alternative-id": [ "covid5100176" ], "author": [ { "ORCID": "https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8983-5781", "affiliation": [ { "name": "Health Sciences Department, Universidad de las Américas Puebla, Puebla 72810, Mexico" } ], "authenticated-orcid": false, "family": "Palacios-Rosas", "given": "Erika", "sequence": "first" }, { "ORCID": "https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6972-5988", "affiliation": [ { "name": "Chemical, Food, and Environmental Engineering Department, Universidad de las Américas Puebla, Puebla 72810, Mexico" } ], "authenticated-orcid": false, "family": "Palacios", "given": "Adriana", "sequence": "additional" }, { "affiliation": [ { "name": "Biological Sciences Research Center, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala 90120, Mexico" } ], "family": "Cuautle", "given": "Mariana", "sequence": "additional" }, { "affiliation": [ { "name": "Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia" } ], "family": "Abdulaziz-Almughanam", "given": "Tawfiq", "sequence": "additional" }, { "affiliation": [ { "name": "Chemical, Food, and Environmental Engineering Department, Universidad de las Américas Puebla, Puebla 72810, Mexico" } ], "family": "Pérez-Urquieta", "given": "Zabdi Paulina", "sequence": "additional" }, { "affiliation": [ { "name": "Chemical, Food, and Environmental Engineering Department, Universidad de las Américas Puebla, Puebla 72810, Mexico" } ], "family": "López-López", "given": "Eduardo Alejandro", "sequence": "additional" }, { "affiliation": [ { "name": "Chemical, Food, and Environmental Engineering Department, Universidad de las Américas Puebla, Puebla 72810, Mexico" } ], "family": "García-Montejano", "given": "Ana Sofía", "sequence": "additional" } ], "container-title": "COVID", "container-title-short": "COVID", "content-domain": { "crossmark-restriction": false, "domain": [] }, "created": { "date-parts": [ [ 2025, 10, 16 ] ], "date-time": "2025-10-16T16:33:22Z", "timestamp": 1760632402000 }, "deposited": { "date-parts": [ [ 2025, 10, 18 ] ], "date-time": "2025-10-18T04:27:36Z", "timestamp": 1760761656000 }, "funder": [ { "award": [ "KFU250157" ], "name": "King Faisal University" } ], "indexed": { "date-parts": [ [ 2025, 10, 18 ] ], "date-time": "2025-10-18T04:41:34Z", "timestamp": 1760762494678, "version": "build-2065373602" }, "is-referenced-by-count": 0, "issue": "10", "issued": { "date-parts": [ [ 2025, 10, 16 ] ] }, "journal-issue": { "issue": "10", "published-online": { "date-parts": [ [ 2025, 10 ] ] } }, "language": "en", "license": [ { "URL": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "content-version": "vor", "delay-in-days": 0, "start": { "date-parts": [ [ 2025, 10, 16 ] ], "date-time": "2025-10-16T00:00:00Z", "timestamp": 1760572800000 } } ], "link": [ { "URL": "https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8112/5/10/176/pdf", "content-type": "unspecified", "content-version": "vor", "intended-application": "similarity-checking" } ], "member": "1968", "original-title": [], "page": "176", "prefix": "10.3390", "published": { "date-parts": [ [ 2025, 10, 16 ] ] }, "published-online": { "date-parts": [ [ 2025, 10, 16 ] ] }, "publisher": "MDPI AG", "reference": [ { "DOI": "10.3390/molecules27092941", "doi-asserted-by": "crossref", "key": "ref_1", "unstructured": "Kowalczyk, P., Kaczyńska, K., Kleczkowska, P., Bukowska-Ośko, I., Kramkowski, K., and Sulejczak, D. 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